TimeX
by TheGirlWhoLikesTooMuchStuff
Summary: Her name was Dakota. Dakota Patience. Her life was never easy, but lately, it was worse. With the CIA counting on her, a group of young mutants looking up to her, WW III in the near future, dealing with her sister ,Raven, and having to choose between an old friend and a mysterious stranger; it was a wonder she didn't have a migraine. R and R.
1. A New Friend

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Marvel, X-Men, or anything superhero related. {I wish I did.} I really hope you all like this story; this is my very first story so, no haters. And also, if you all could just read the first few chapters; the first few are a bit well boring. I promise it gets better after a few chapters. And read the insert below so you know what the heck you're reading. Thanks!**

* * *

CIA TOP SECRET REPORT: CUBA MUTANTS CONFLICT/ATTACK:

MUTANT IN QUESTION: Dakota Patience AKA TimeX

POWERS: Speed, Telepath, Able to Time Travel, Healing Powers, 6th Sense, Connection, and she can Sense other Mutants and their Powers. (She can use her healing powers to heal herself and others. She cannot heal broken bones. Her healing powers also keep her young. The 6th sense is a new ability she is coming into, that allows her to see a peek of the future. The connection is similar to telepathy, however she is only connected to two people: Charles and Erik. She feels their emotions and can communicate with them without really thinking.)

AGE: 25 years old. (At least that is what she says.)

HAIR COLOR: Brown with light golden blond highlights.

EYE COLOR: Right eye, sapphire blue. Left eye, sky blue.

RACE: Caucasian

BIRTHDATE: August 23rd 1915

BIRTHPLACE: London, England

BASE: Unknown, last seen with the other mutants in Cuba.

NOTE: This report is for the head of the CIA only and is to be put on file as a confirmed event of persons with superhuman powers. My full report on all of the mutants involved with the Cuba incident will be sent as soon as possible.

Agent Moira MacTaggert: CIA

REVISE NOTE: After spending many weeks with the mutants I feel that they are not a threat, however the Brotherhood is a threat. I do not want you to confuse, that all mutants are bad and not to be trusted. My full report will be sent to the head of the CIA tomorrow.

Agent Serenity Sky:

Senior Representative for the Governors of America

* * *

Westchester, New York 1944

Charles was in a deep sleep. He was always a deep sleeper, he almost never woke up in the middle of the night. So, it startled him when a noise woke him up. He grabbed his baseball bat and headed down stairs, towards where the noise came from. He walked towards the kitchen, the light was on. He walked into the kitchen, ready to hit a burglar over the head with his bat. He saw his mother by the refrigerator, he relaxed.

"Mother," he said. His mother seemed surprised to see him. She let the frig door shut. "What are you...I thought you were a burglar."

"I didn't mean to scare you, darling. I was just getting a snack." His mother had a hand on her hip and was dressed too nicely for the time of night.

' _Darling?'_ Charles thought, ' _she never calls me darling.'_

"Go back to bed." Charles didn't move. "What's the matter? Go on, back to bed." Charles still didn't move. His mother smiled, "I'll make you hot chocolate." That told him what he needed to know.

"Who are you?" His 'mother' frowned. Charles looked at the small black and white picture of him and his mother on the kitchen wall. His mother was wearing the same outfit that she was wearing in the picture. "And what have you done with my mother?" He did not hesitate to enter this person's mind. ' _My mother has never set foot in this kitchen in her life.'_ His fake mother looked around startled at the sudden voice in her head. She held her hands to her temples and slowly backed away from Charles.

' _And she certainly has never made me a hot chocolate.'_ He slowly walked towards her. ' _Unless you count ordering the maid to do it.'_ His fake mother took her hands away from her head and as she did her eyes turned yellow. Her skin turned blue and her hair turned red. She turned out to be not a woman, but a little girl. Charles was stunned and then he was smiling. This little girl was a mutant. She could make herself look and sound like anyone. And she couldn't have been over 7. He kept smiling at her, still amazed.

"You're not scared of me?" she asked in a timid little voice.

"I always believed we couldn't be the only ones in the world. The only ones who were different. Charles Xavier." He extended his hand to shake her hand. She hesitated for a second before extending her's to him.

"Raven."

"You're hungry," Raven shook her head, "and alone. Take what you want, we've got lots of food, you don't have to steal." Raven smiled. "In fact, you never have to steal again. And that's a promise." Raven's smile widened. Charles knew he would have to convince his mother and his step-father to let her stay, but he would worry about that tomorrow. Right now all he wanted to do was help his new friend.

* * *

After Raven had a well over do meal and Charles had a small snack, they went upstairs. They walked down the hall on the left, where there were many rooms.

"This first one here is my room. This one is just a guest bedroom so if you want it you can stay here." Raven opened the door and walked in. It was a small room, and it had a very simple floral design. But it was pretty and Raven loved it.

"It's beautiful. Thank you," Raven said. She smiled at Charles. And then a thought came to her. "I…I have a question. Y-you said 'we' before, downstairs..."

"Oh, yeah. I was talking about me and Dakota."

"Dakota? Is she your sister?"

"No, no. She's just a friend, like you. I'll introduce you to her. She'll want to meet you." Charles went to the room across from his and softly knocked on the door. "Dakota? Are you awake?" He opened the door and walked in. Raven followed closely behind. Charles walked towards the bed in the room, where another girl was sleeping; facing away from them. Charles tapped on Dakota's shoulder, "Dakota?" Dakota stirred, but she did not wake up. "Dakota, wake up. There's someone I want you to meet. Dakota?" He shook her shoulder and she mumbled, "Who's there?"

"Dakota! Good you're awake. Dakota, I want you to meet—Dakota…Dakota!" She was falling asleep again. Charles looked at Raven who was at the foot of the bed. He sighed and sat on the bed. He leaned close to Dakota's ear. "Dakota!"

"What Charles?!" Dakota shouted, throwing her right arm towards the sound of Charles' voice. Charles ducked out of the way of her arm. Dakota's eyes were still closed and she was still half asleep. She turned away from Charles. Charles again leaned close to Dakota's ear this time he whispered, "Dakota…"

"Huuhhh?"

"Look, just wake up for two minutes. Use your powers…" Dakota opened her eyes a little bit; she felt the presence of another mutant. She was awake now. "There's another mutant in the house!" she exclaimed sitting up in bed; accidently pushing Charles off the bed.

"Ahh!"

Raven jumped. Dakota smiled and took in Raven. "Wow. Your mutation is amazing." Charles stood up and brushed himself off. Dakota kicked off the covers and jumped out of bed.

"I'm Dakota. Dakota Patience. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Raven shook her head. "Hi. I'm-"

"Raven," Dakota said before Raven got the chance. "Raven Darkholme; born…June 3rd 19…37. In a little town in Colorado." Raven was amazed; she had no idea how Dakota could've know that. "Class 4 mutant; with the ability to transform yourself into anyone." Dakota smiled again; it was more of a smirk but a friendly one. She looked into Raven's eyes and then suddenly she wasn't there! Gone in a flash. "Raven, what size are you?" Raven spun around on her feet, startled. Dakota was standing by an opened closet, in the corner of the room. Raven had no idea how she got there. Dakota was rummaging through a bunch of day dresses and night gowns. (It was ironic that Dakota had so many night gowns and yet she was wearing PJs similar to Charles' striped pants and button down shirt.) Dakota grabbed a cotton night gown that had old fancy lace on the collar. She brought the dress over to Raven and held it up to her. "Put your arms out." Raven did and Dakota held the sleeves to Raven's arm. Dakota nodded, "I think they will work." She handed the dress to Raven and walked back to the closet. Raven turned the dress over in her hands and took in the small, dainty needle work.

"What will work?" Raven asked.

"All these dresses." Raven looked up; Dakota motioned her head to the closet. "Yeah, well you see I don't like dresses and Charles' mom and step dad don't seem to understand that. So, I have all these," she paused and stared at the dresses, "ridiculous looking things up for grabs. You and Charles had a snack?" Raven and Charles nodded. "You had a snack and didn't get me?" Charles smiled shyly.

"Well, I knew it would, um take a while to…um, get you up."

"That is the worst excuse I've ever heard of!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down. You don't want to wake up-"

"I will wake up anyone I bloody will please, thank you very much! Worst excuse ever. And I have heard my share of bad excuses in my day, let me tell you, dear heart. Jeez." Dakota walked out, mumbling about excuses, leaving Raven just staring after her. She glanced down at the dress in her hands, then at Charles, then at the door.

"Is she always like that?" Raven finally asked.

Charles chuckled, "Basically. But don't worry you'll get used to her." They both went back down stairs to the kitchen. Raven couldn't help but think what an interesting night it had been. What had started out as a 'simple' break-in had ended up giving her a home. Even if it was only temporary. Her life was going to be different now. And honestly she was looking forward to it.

* * *

Oxford University, England 1960

23 year old Charles Xavier went to get his sister and himself a drink. A beautiful blond woman was standing at the bar. She was alone. "Heterochromia," he said.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, "A gentleman would at least offer to buy me a drink first."

Charles chuckled and held two fingers to his temple. "Norman, a pint of bitter for me and a brandy for the lady, please."

"How'd you know that?"

"Lucky guess. Name's Xavier. Charles Xavier. How do you do?" He shook her hand.

"Amy."

"Heterochromia was in reference to your eyes, which I have to say are stunning. _One green, one blue._ It's a mutation. A very groovy mutation. I've got news for you, Amy. You are a mutant."

"First you proposition a girl, and then you call her deformed. How is that seduction technique working for you?" Amy asked, definitely not buying Charles' little speech.

"I'll tell you in the morning." She blinked and smiled. Charles laughed, "No, seriously, though, you mustn't knock it. Mutation took us from single-celled organisms to being the dominant form of reproductive life on this planet." Amy was taking some interest now. "Infinite forms of variation with each generation, all through mutation." Charles was edging closer to Amy with a sly smile.

Amy was fascinated, "Then let's reclaim that word." Raven; who had been sitting at a table waiting for Charles and watching this whole thing; rolled her eyes and got up. Charles and Amy both lifted their glasses.

"Mutant and proud," Amy said. They clinked their glasses together. "Chin-chin. Hey," Charles said noticing Raven standing there, staring at them. "Oh, I guess I have to buy my own drink." Charles and Amy took a sip from their drinks.

"I'm sorry. One cola."

Amy turned her attention to Raven, "Charles here was just telling me that I'm one of the first sea creatures that grew legs."

"A tiny bit sexier," Charles added. Amy laughed. Raven just stared at him. "I'm sorry. This is my sister, Raven."

"Hi," Raven said in the most fake pleasant voice she could mustard.

"Amy." They shook hands. "And what do you study?" Amy asked.

"Waitressing."

"Ah." Raven let her left eye show part of its natural color. "Oh, look, you have heterochromia, too."

"Sorry, what?" Charles asked.

"Look at her eye." And Charles did. Raven smiled. Charles cleared his throat, annoyed.

"Right. Raven, get your coat, please." He pulled some money out of his jacket pocket and dropped it on the bar. He said a quick good bye to Amy and stormed out the door. Raven was close behind.

"Don't talk to me. You did that on purpose."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

"Why would I do it on purpose? You know I can't control it sometimes if I'm stressed or tired."

"You seem to be doing a perfectly good job right now."

In a fake British accent; mocking what Amy said; Raven said, "Mutant and proud."

"What?"

"Or is it only with pretty mutations, or invisible ones like yours? But if you're freak, you better hide."

"You're being ridiculous. I don't mean to sound like an old fart."

"Which you are."

"Sometimes. But we've talked about this, Raven. A small slip-up is one thing. A big one does not bear thinking about." Raven glared at her 'brother.' They continued walking to Charles' apartment.

"Did you even like that dumb blond?"

"She was not a dumb blond! And yes, I liked her."

"Really?"

"Really."

"And you see, I thought you only liked her because of her eyes."

"What do her eyes have to do with anything?" Charles said, irritation creeping back into his voice.

"The only reason you even talked to her, is because she had two different colored eyes, like Dakota." Charles paused for half a second, then continued walking.

"What's Dakota got to with this?" Charles asked.

"Oh, please. You been hung up on her, ever since she left you. You never could get over her."

"She did not leave me," Charles corrected, "We weren't even together. And Dakota had to leave. When she found out that her parents died in 1927 she had to go back in time and prevent that from happening. I understood that, and I still do."

"Whatever. If you're in love with her and don't want to admit it, that's fine by me." Charles opened his mouth to say something but stopped and figured he didn't want to start a fight. They reached their apartment, went in, walked up two flights of stairs, went down a hallway, reached their apartment number; 25; and walked in. It was a relatively nice apartment; nothing like home but it was nice. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a closet, and a small study; where Charles did his work. The set-up of the apart was odd, though. When you walked in, you had to walk through a hall to get to the rooms. Except the bathroom was connected to the study. Charles went to his room. Raven went to the study, so she could get to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she entered the room she came to a halt. A woman was sitting on Charles' desk reading his work on genetics. She wore a blue blouse, simple black slacks, and black boots. The woman didn't even look up at Raven when she came in. Raven slowly crept away and sneaked into Charles, room.

"Charles!" she whispered.

Charles looked up, "Raven, what is it-"

"There is a woman sitting in the study."

"….What?"

"There is a _woman_ sitting in the study." Charles gave Raven an odd look then went to the study. He opened the door, and sure enough there she was. Again the woman didn't move or anything.

"Excess, me miss?" The woman looked up this time, startled. "Um…You do realize that this is our apartment and you are kind of trespassing?" The woman smirked, threw the papers that she was looking at on the desk, and crossed her legs. She folded her hands very politely in her lap. Charles blinked.

"Continue on," she said, in a British accent similar to Charles'.

"Right, um, so if you will just leave we don't have to-"

"Call the police?" She chuckled, "I don't think you want me going to jail. I love the work, you done on this whole genetics thing. You always did say you wanted to go to Oxford and become a teacher, or something like that, in genetics." She jumped off the desk, "You always were the big dreamer." At that moment Charles noticed her eyes; one dark blue, one light blue. It was her.

"Dakota?" Raven asked before Charles could.

"In the flesh," Dakota said with a bow. She stood up to full height. "You should see the looks on your faces. I wish I had a camera."

Raven laughed, "Oh my god!" Raven went over and hugged her, and Dakota hugged her 'sister' back. Charles just stood there, dumbfounded. The two women broke their embrace and chuckled. "How-how are you?" Raven asked.

"I'm good, I'm good. Went back in time. Stopped whatever it was that killed my parents. I stayed there for a while. My parents even had another child."

"Really?"

"Yup. I have a little baby brother. After a while, I went all over the place. To the past, to the future. Then when I was in the 90s," Dakota walked around the desk and looked at all the papers on the desk again. "And I wasn't feeling the greatest and my friend, Neil Hill, said I should go to a time where I was the most happy. So, I did."

"You were happy, here?" Charles asked; it was the first thing he had said since Dakota made her big introduction. Dakota looked him in the eye. "Of course, I was. It was the best time of my life." She smiled; Charles smiled shyly; Raven smirked.

* * *

After a few hours of Charles and Raven catching Dakota up on what had happened over the past few years, and Dakota telling Charles and Raven about her adventures through time; Raven decided she was going to bed. Which meant that Dakota and Charles were alone. They just sat there on the couch; awkward. Charles glanced at Dakota; she was beautiful. More beautiful than Amy. He looked down at his shoes. Dakota glanced at Charles; he had grown very handsome. More handsome than when she last saw him at age 16. She looked down at her laced-up boots. Charles cleared his throat, "So, how long are you going to stay?" Dakota sighed.

"I'm glad one of us brought that up. IDK."

"What?"

"IDK. It means 'I don't know.'"

"Oh. Something you learned in the future?"

"I learned a lot of things in the future." Charles nodded. Dakota sighed again. "Charles."

"Yes?"

"You know I have only ever stayed in one time frame for about five years. The time I spent with you and Raven was the exception." She looked at Charles; a few strands of her hair fall in her face.

"I know. It's in your nature, to move around constantly. Seeing new places and times. Meeting new people." Charles took in Dakota's wavy, unruly hair. "You grew your hair out."

"What?"

"When you introduced yourself I kept thinking to myself, 'Something's different about Dakota,' and now I see it. It's very nice." Dakota smiled a small smile. She ran a few fingers through her hair, to get a tangled curl to lay flat with the rest of it.

"Thanks." She sat up straight; the few strands of her hair still in her face. She tried to blow it off her, but it kept coming back where it started. She was getting flustered. Finally, she grabbed the few strands with her hand and threw it out of her way. Charles looked amused. Dakota opened her mouth to explain, but then closed her mouth and shrugged. Charles laughed, "Same old Dakota. Never changed at all." Dakota smiled embarrassed, and slid closer to Charles on the couch. "Charles, I can change." Charles slid closer to Dakota.

"What do you mean?" Dakota laid her hand on Charles' shoulder.

"Use your powers." Charles gave her an odd look. Dakota raised her eyebrows.

' _Why do you want me to use my powers?'_ Charles said, using his telepathy.

' _I know Raven doesn't like you using your powers on her, and I don't know, I like your powers,'_ Dakota said, using the connection shared between the two of them. She would use her telepathy, but out of all her powers, her telepathy was the least powerful. Charles put his arm around Dakota.

' _I'm glad you like me in your head.'_ Dakota smirked.

' _That's not what I said.'_ Dakota softly rubbed Charles' cheek. Charles was glad the lights in the study were dim, so Dakota could not see him blush. _'I am whiling to change my lifestyle and stay here.'_

' _Why would you want to stay here?'_ Charles asked, running a hand through her hair. Dakota looked him in the eyes.

' _I think you know why.'_ Charles starred back into her eyes. Then cleared his throat.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch, because we, uh, only have two bedrooms. And, uh, this is not the best apartment, I know. But it is nice. And, uh,-"

"Charles."

"Yes?"

"Stop talking."

"Okay." Dakota leaned in and kissed him. He kissed her back.

' _I love you.'_

' _I love you, too.'_

Raven stood by the door, smirking. She left; deciding to give them their privacy. "I called it."

* * *

 **I know, I know, it's not the greatest. But don't worry it will get good in the next few chapters. Stay tuned! REVIEW! {Please.} I decided to change the time line from First Class a little. And if you were wondering, Charles and Dakota are both 25, and Raven is 24; in 1962 of course. I don't know why you would want to know that, but there you go. Hope you continue reading!**


	2. The CIA Agent

Oxford University, England 1962

It had been two years since Dakota first came back. Since Charles admitted, he did in fact love Dakota. Since Raven rubbed it in that she was right and had totally called it. Since Charles had gotten Dakota into Oxford; studying history in a simple two year program. Since Dakota and Charles were first happy together. A casual observer would think that everything would be just fine.

But it wasn't.

Charles and Dakota's relationship, though good at first, had become rocky. They had found that they did love each other more than anything, but they were not exactly right for each other.

Dakota did not like how Charles treated Raven; always holding her back and trying to control her. And over the last two years she noticed Charles was trying to do the same to her. She didn't say anything because she did not want to start a fight.

Charles did not like how Dakota shut him out. He didn't like how she made him feel, like he was always wrong. He did not want to say anything because he did not want an argument.

Their relationship always was going from good to bad. One step forward, two steps back. It took three steps back one night when Charles and Raven had their usual fight about Raven's disguise. Raven had been in her natural blue form walking around the apartment and Charles had gotten mad at her, for 'carelessly' walking around with the shades open. Raven finally got fed up and walked out on Charles lecture. She didn't say one word to him or Dakota. That night, when she was getting ready for bed she finally decided to talk.

"Mutant and proud," she said sarcastically. She was in the bathroom brushing her teeth; Dakota and Charles were sitting in the study looking over their homework. Raven continued brushing her teeth. "Mutant and proud?" she asked out loud. Charles sighed. Raven rinsed, and stared at her reflection. At that thing. That thing in the mirror. "If only." She walked into the doorway and looked at Charles. "Would you date me?" Dakota looked up over her seven page essay at Raven.

"Well, this is the start of an intriguing conversation." She flipped the pages back to the first page and sat it on the coffee table.

"Of course I would," Charles said, not looking up from his homework. "Any young man would be lucky to have you. You are stunning." Raven glared at Charles.

"Looking like this?"

"Like…what?" Charles asked, finally looking up. He did not realize she was in her blue form, and it startled him. "Blue?" Dakota raised an eyebrow at Charles. Raven looked down. Charles shrugged, "You're my oldest friend."

"I'm your only friend."

Dakota 'ahemed' and said, "What am I?"

Charles laughed, "Thank you for that."

"Well?" Raven asked. Charles grabbed his paper and walked around the desk to the couch. "I'm incapable of thinking of you that way. I feel responsible for you. Anything else would just feel…wrong." He sat on the couch.

"But what if you didn't know me?"

"Unfortunately, I do know you. I don't know what's gotten into you lately. You're awfully concerned with your looks." Dakota rolled her eyes and grabbed her essay.

"You obviously have no idea how girls work," Dakota mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Charles asked.

"Nothing."

Raven snickered. Charles just looked between the two of them, confused. Raven sat down beside Charles and curled up next to him. "I'm sleepy. Will you read to me?" Dakota couldn't help but smile; they did have a sweet brother sister bond.

"I can't. I have my thesis coming up. I have to study."

"Fine, read that. Your thesis always sends me right off."

"To Homo neanderthalensis, his mutant cousin, Homo sapiens, was an aberration."

Charles could tell Dakota was worried about something. "Peaceful cohabitation, if ever it existed, was short-lived."

Dakota was worried she would have her dream again. "Records show, without exception, that the arrival of the mutated human species in any region was followed by the immediate extinction of their less-evolved kin."

She started having the dream a few months ago. Every night it was always the same; she would have a dream that she knew by heart, when it was happening, but when she woke up she won't remember anything. Raven fell asleep pretty early on, when Charles was reading his thesis. When Charles noticed she was asleep; he slowly got off the couch. He made sure he didn't wake her. He laid her down on the couch and grabbed a blanket from the chair in the corner of the room, to cover her up. Dakota got up, too. She headed to the bedroom.

Charles and Dakota shared a bedroom; they were dating and all. But it wasn't _that_ kind of a relationship. They were in love, not in lust. She got ready for bed herself. Charles came in; they didn't talk to each other. A few minutes later, they were ready and had the lights turned off.

* * *

The dream always started the same: Dakota feeling sick to her stomach. Like she had been on a roller coaster. Everything was fuzzy and dark; she barely could make out anything. All she knew was that something was happening and someone had to be stopped. It also was ridiculously hot in her dream. It was like she was in Florida, or Texas, or _Cuba_ , or something. Her head hurt. It felt as if someone had hit it with a frying pan. But it wasn't her pain she was feeling, it was Charles'. And like all the times before, she could just make out Charles a few feet away, in her blurry vision, but then…

She felt a burning, stabbing pain in her back. She screamed and fell down. This was about where she woke up.

She screamed. Charles woke with a start. Dakota sat up in bed breathing heavily. Charles sat up, too. "Hey," he said he put his arm around her, "the dream, again?" She nodded.

She turned towards him, "They are getting more frequent. And I still don't remember a bloody thing when I wake up." Charles looked at her, worriedly; which did not make her feel better at all. "I just have the feeling that something…terrible is going to happen." Charles brought her close to him and hugged her. He ran a hand through her hair.

"Everything is going to be alright. Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen." Dakota closed her eyes, trying to find peace in his words. But she still worried. So, they sat in bed; in each other's arms. Charles rubbed her back trying to relax her. Dakota did love him, even if he could be a jerk sometimes. But he was the sweetest jerk.

Three steps back, two steps forward.

* * *

A week or so later was when Dakota graduated from Oxford with a history degree. A week after that, was when Charles gave his thesis and graduated himself. _"Professor of Genetics, Charles Francis Xavier."_

It was raining that day. "So, how does it feel to be a professor?" Raven asked. Charles groaned.

"Don't call me that. You don't get to be called a professor until you actually have a teaching position."

"She knows that, but it suits you," Dakota said with a smirk.

"Don't say that. Do say, 'Let's go have a drink.'"

"Let's go have a drink," Dakota and Raven said in stereo.

"Wonderful," Charles said. They walked from the university to the bar that Charles had met Amy all that time ago. They all, were unaware that a woman was following them.

Many people in the bar were also celebrating their graduation from Oxford. Twice, people offered to buy drinks for everyone in the bar. "Are you sure you don't want anything?" Charles asked Dakota.

She smirked, "Charles, you know I don't drink. At all. If you were asking me if you could buy me a pack of cigarettes, then that would be a different story."

"Smoking is bad for your health."

"And drinking isn't?"

Charles chuckled, "Just checking. I getting a drink, and I just wanted to make sure you didn't want one."

Charles agreed to take a 'drinking challenge'; which basically meant he had to drink a bunch of alcohol out of a really long glass. "Talk about a freaking huge drink," Dakota said when she saw the glass in question. "I thought you wanted _a_ drink, not seventeen drinks at one time!"

Charles stood on a table in the bar, to take his drink. Everyone in the bar was cheering him on. Once he finally finished it he yelled, "Yeah!" Everyone clapped and 'hoorayed'. Dakota got up on the table with him and pulled him by the collar and kissed him. Everyone cheered even more. Dakota pulled away, and saw everyone staring at her. "Oh, I'm his girlfriend. That's not just how I do things." She jumped of the table and Charles stumbled down.

"I'm so proud of you," Raven said pulling Charles into a hug.

"Thank you," Charles laughed, "I need another drink."

Dakota's jaw dropped. "After all of that," she motioned to the huge empty glass, "and you still want another drink? Dear heart, what's wrong you?"

"You only live once."

"I never thought I'd see the day the Charles 'the worrier' Xavier would live his life like that. YOLO."

"YOLO?" Raven asked.

"It's a term…from the future."

"You want another cola?" Charles asked Raven. She nodded and Charles, half walked, half stumbled to the bar.

"I have a feeling he going to be feeling _that_ in the morning," Dakota said.

He was just to the bar when a woman stopped him. "Congratulations, Professor."

"Thank you very much. It's much harder than it looks, actually," he said in reference to his drinking challenge.

"No, on your presentation."

"Oh, you were at my presentation? How nice of you. Thank you very much."

"Moira MacTaggert."

"Charles Xavier." They shook hands.

"Do you have a minute?"

"For a pretty little bean with a mutated MCR1 gene? I have five." Charles was dedicated to Dakota and he would never cheat on her, but he was always flirting with other woman. He saw no harm in it; it made Dakota furious. (Not to mention to jealous.) He put an arm around Moira and walked her to a table. "I say 'MCR1,' you would say 'Auburn hair.'" They sat down. "It's a mutation. A very groovy mutation. Mutation, right, took us from single-celled organisms to the dominant form-"

"You know what? This routine may go over great with the co-eds, but I'm here on business."

"What?"

"I really need your help."

Charles hesitated, "All right."

"The kind of mutations that you were talking about in your thesis. I need to know if they may have already happened." Charles raised his hand to his temple. "In people alive today." Charles entered Moira's mind softly, so she won't know he was there. She was a CIA agent, who was looking into an organization called the Hellfire Club. She had found a secret room and saw an American Colonel there with the owners of the club. As Charles continued to read her mind, he saw what she had seen. A woman with diamond skin, a man with red skin appear out of thin air, and a man by the name of Sebastion Shaw, talking about human mutations. His eyes widened.

"Professor?" Moira asked. He took his hand away from his temple and exhaled loudly. "I think we should just talk when you're sober. Do you have any time tomorrow?"

"Something tells me you already know the answer to your question." Moira glanced away from Charles. "This is very important to me, and if I can help you, I will do my utmost."

"Thank you." Moira got up and left, and Charles went back to where Raven and Dakota were.

"So, who was that?" Dakota asked trying to act like she didn't care; but she did.

"That was Moira MacTaggert."

"Ahh."

"She's a CIA agent."

"Wait, what?"

* * *

The next day, Charles met with Moira to talk over what she exactly wanted. Dakota and Raven stayed at the apartment, waiting for Charles to come back. Waiting was not one of Dakota's strong suits. Neither, was patience. (Despite her name being Dakota _Patience_.) Charles came back in the afternoon. "So, what does she want?" Raven asked.

"She wants me to give a presentation for the head of the CIA. She wants to convince him that the people she saw were real and not a figment of her imagination." Dakota nodded.

"Alright. So, I assuming you said that you yes, because you usually do. So, when do we go to give this presentation?"

"We leave tomorrow, and I give the presentation in four days." Dakota nodded.

"Okay. Next question; where is it we are going?"

"The CIA headquarters, in Langley, Virginia."

"So, we are going to fly there?" Raven asked, glancing at Dakota.

"Yes."

"By plane?"

"Yes."

"And how is Dakota getting there?" Dakota asked.

Charles sighed, "Look I know you have a fear of flying, but-"

"But nothing!"

"Dakota! We are the only people who can help her. I mean, think about. The other CIA agents don't believe her because she's, well…a she." Dakota sighed.

"Sexist people. Fine." She walked to her room. "I guess I better pack. Talk about guilt tripping a person, dear heart. Jeez."

Charles rubbed his head and looked at Raven, "I guess we're going to Virginia."

* * *

 **That's the end of Chapter 2! Exciting! Or X-Citing! {See what I did there ;) } Chapter 3 will be up soon; don't worry. Review please. Thanks! P.S. Next chapter will have Dakota, Charles, and friends meet Erik.**


	3. Presentations and Rescues

CIA Headquarters. Langley, Virginia.

"The advent of the nuclear age may have accelerated the mutation process. Individuals with extraordinary abilities may already be among us. Thank you very much." Charles sat down, finishing his presentation. Raven sat across from him and Dakota sat next to him. Agent MacTaggert, her partner; Agent Levene, the director of the CIA, another agent named Stryker, and another agent; who hadn't introduced himself; all sat in on Charles' presentation. The director wasn't impressed.

"MacTaggert, you really think that some crackpot scientist is going to make me believe in sparkly dames and vanishing men? You just bought yourself a one-way ticket back to the typing pool. This meeting is over." Moira stood up to leave.

"Please sit down, Agent MacTaggert," Charles said. "I didn't really expect you to believe me," he said, directing his attention to the other end of the table. "Given that all you could think about during my presentation was what sort of pie they were serving in the commissary. It's apple pecan." Charles looked at Moira again, "I haven't been entirely honest with you, love. I'm sorry. You see, one of the many spectacular things my mutation allows me to do is I can read your mind." Dakota turned on him.

"Charles, what are you doing?"

"Don't worry, Dakota I've got this under control."

Agent Stryker smirked, "I've seen this before in a magic show. Are you going to ask us to think of a number between one and ten now?" He was mocking him. Charles just chuckled.

"No, Agent Stryker. Although, I could ask you about your son, William, who you were thinking about, which is very nice. But I think I'd rather ask you about the Jupiter missiles America are currently placing in Turkey." Dakota sighed and rubbed her temples; she was getting the start of a migraine. The agents looked between each other in shock.

"He's a goddamn spy. You brought a goddamned spy into this facility!" Everyone was talking; rather; yelling at once. Raven looked to Dakota. Dakota raised an eyebrow. Raven nodded and stood up. She changed her appearance, so she looked like Agent Stryker. She smiled. Everyone stopped talking. Instead they all starred at her. Raven turned into her blue form. Charles looked at Raven, and sighed. Dakota turned towards the stunned agents.

"How's that for a magic trick?" she said.

"Best I've ever seen," said the agent, who hadn't introduced himself.

"I want them out of here," the director said, pointing at the three of them. "And locked down until I can figure out what to do." Charles, Dakota, and Raven all shared looks.

"My facility is off-site. I'll take them." The agent smiled, and genuinely seemed interested in the three mutants.

* * *

As the three of them, and the agent walked out to the parking garage; Charles reached Moira's mind and had small conversation with her. She was going after Shaw and Charles said that they would help her; again. Dakota felt the conversation between the two of them and glared at him. "What?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and walked farther ahead of them. (She was a good speed walker.)

"You got us in this bloody mess!" The agent looked at Raven.

"Is she, does she…?"

Raven nodded, "Dakota has many powers. Unlike Charles and myself who only have one." Charles had to run to catch up with her.

"Okay, I'll admit, that wasn't the smartest thing to do."

"No kidding, dear heart."

"But I saw the look you gave Raven. You wanted her to show her powers."

"Well, they weren't buying your mind-reading thing, so I figured her powers would be more _persuasive_." Charles grabbed Dakota's arm, slowing her down.

"I'm sorry. Okay? But everything will work out, don't worry." Charles lowered his voice, "Moira will be coming down soon, so we can help her find Sebastian Shaw."

Dakota frowned, "So far, helping Moira hasn't been the best thing, has it?"

They waited for Raven and the agent to catch up before continuing down to the agent's car. The agent was fascinated with their powers and kept talking about them.

"I've always known that there were people like you out there. I've been the laughing stock of this agency for years, but I knew it! You are going to love my facility."

"That's going to have to wait," Charles interrupted.

"Why?" Moira came around the corner, driving a black car. She stopped right in front of them.

"Agent MacTaggert has a lead on Sebastian Shaw, and if we don't move now, apparently, we're going to lose him."

"What?"

"Not only can he read minds," Raven started.

"He can communicate with them as well," Dakota finished. Raven opened the back seat door and got in; followed by Dakota.

"Moira and I have just had a lovely conversation."

"Yes, we did."

"That is incredible!" the agent exclaimed. Charles laughed. "But-but I cannot take you anywhere else without permission from upstairs."

"Would you like to see one more magic trick?"

"Okay." Charles held his hand to his temple.

"Get in the car."

"Good idea." The agent got in the back with the two girls, and Charles sat next to Moira in the front seat. They turned out of the parking garage and onto the main road, which lead out of the headquarters.

"So, all three of you are mutants, then?" Moira asked.

"Pretty much, dear heart. Charles is a telepath, Raven is a shape-shifter, and as for myself…well I don't one simple power that defines me."

" _Simple?_ " Raven questioned.

"I didn't mean simple."

They drove in silence, except the occasional question from the agent and the occasional small talk between Dakota and Raven. When they finally reached their destination, it was getting dark. They all got on a coast guard ship, and headed out onto the open water. An hour later, they spotted another ship.

"There they are," Charles said, he held his hand to his temple. Dakota could sense them. There were five mutants on that ship. Someone must have figured out that Shaw was on the boat, as well, because a man on a speaker said, "This is the U.S. Coast Guard. Do not attempt to move your vessel. Stay where you are." A few men on rafts, sped towards Shaw's boat.

"I've lost Shaw," Charles said surprised.

"What?"

"I've lost Shaw. There's something blocking me. This has never happened to me before. I think there's someone like me on that ship."

"Like you?" Moira asked.

"I'm sorry a telepath. This is incredible, I can actually feel her inside my mind. I'm very sorry, but I don't think I'm gonna be much help tonight. You're on your own." Dakota closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Emma Frost."

"Huh?" the agent asked.

"Emma Frost. Telepath. Class three. Blond hair, blue eyes. Born June 1st, 1935. In New York, New York." Moira and the agent stared at her, questionably. "I can sense other mutants and their powers." Moira nodded, now understanding. Just then, a mutant on the other boat made two mini twisters and sent them straight towards the men on the rafts. "Oh my God," Charles mumbled. "Jesus," Moira said. The twisters hit the rafts and turned them over. Dakota could sense Shaw, Frost, a mutant named Riptide; who created the two mini twisters; and a mutant named Azazel. They were all working together. So, who was the fifth mutant she sensed?

She let her mind go, and searched for that fifth mutant. She found him. His mind was racing. "There's someone else out there."

"Get inside," the agent said. Everyone followed, except for Dakota.

"Someone else is out there," she told Charles; pointing at the ship. He grabbed her and pulled her to where the others had gone. As they were walking down the stairs; which lead to the lower deck; Charles stopped. "Ohh. Stop, stop, stop. Ahhh!"

"Charles! You okay?"

"There's someone else out there." He opened the door and went back out on deck.

"That's what I just said!" Dakota yelled. Everyone ignored her for the time-being, and followed Charles. Charles walked to the edge of the deck and pointed, "There." They saw the anchor of Shaw's ship floating a few hundred feet in the air. It hesitated for a moment and then came smashing through the boat. It came back up and went through it again, destroying most of the upper levels of the boat.

Charles, Dakota, Raven, Moira, and the agent all stood there, memorized. "Talk about dangerous anchors," Dakota whispered. Moira gave her an odd look. The anchor went back up, but broke off the chain. It flew into the water.

As far as Dakota could tell, the mutant who did all that damage was now holding onto the submarine (that Shaw had under his ship for safe keeping) and wasn't about to let go. "Charles, he's not going to let it go."

"I noticed. Let go!" he screamed to the man. "You've to let it go! You've got to put someone in the water to help him," Charles said to Moira, but she was still memorized. "Let it go! You have to let it go!" The guy wasn't listening! Instead of letting go, he held on until he was pulled under the water. Charles ran to the other side of the ship, taking his coat off as he ran.

"Charles?" Dakota said, realizing he wasn't beside her anymore. "Charles!" She ran after him. Charles reached the edge of the ship and didn't even hesitate, as he jumped into the water. Dakota went from a person running to a blur and was suddenly standing where Charles had been.

Charles found the mutant who was still holding onto the submarine, and tried to pull him above water. _'You can't. You'll drown. You have to let it go. I know what this means to you, but you're going to die. Please, Erik, calm our mind.'_ Erik started to calm down, but only slightly. This was all Charles needed to pull himself and Erik above the water. They both came up, coughing up water.

"Get off me, get off!" Erik yelled, swimming away.

"Calm down! Just breathe. We're here!" Charles yelled to anyone who was on the ship.

"Who are you?"

"My name's Charles Xavier."

"You were in my head! How'd you do that?"

"You have your tricks, I have mine. I'm like you. Just calm your mind!"

"I thought I was alone."

"You're not alone," Charles shook his head, "Erik, you're not alone."

* * *

The two of them treaded water for a few minutes; they waited for the others to lower a boat, or something to get them on the ship. As the crew members lowered a small boat down to them, Dakota leaned over the edge of the railing, shouting at them.

"Charles! You alright?"

"Yes! We're both alright!"

"Good! Now, what the bloody hell were you thinking?!" Charles sighed. Erik looked up, trying to make Dakota out. "You just went jumped off the bloody boat! You went and half scared me to death!" The boat reached the water and Charles and Erik climbed in. They sat there listening to Dakota rant. "You just jumped off the boat! Don't tell me what you're doing, no, no. Just jump off a boat!"

"Could we discuss this later?" Charles yelled.

"Oh, fine! I'm tired of yelling at you anyway. I'm coming down there!" Dakota 'disappeared' in a blur and was suddenly standing on the little boat with Charles and Erik. Erik jumped. "Okay, now then, what were you thinking?"

"Look, Dako-"

"You just jumped off the boat!"

"How did she…?"

"I was trying to help-"

"You went and stuck your neck out for someone you don't even know!"

"How did you get here?" Erik asked, finally getting Dakota's attention.

"What?" she turned towards Erik.

"How did you get from the deck of that boat," Erik pointed at the boat, "down here?" Dakota smirked.

"You'll see. Get up. Both of you, get up." Charles got up; Erik looked at Dakota questionably. She held out her hand. Erik took it and she helped stand him up. She held onto both of their necks.

"What are you doing?" Erik glanced at Dakota.

"I'm holding your neck. I don't want you to get whiplash."

"Wha…?" Erik didn't get a chance to finish saying the word 'what' because Dakota took off. They were now all on the deck a few feet away from Moira and Raven. Charles and Erik both felt a wave of nausea. "Don't worry it will pass, it happens with everyone." She put her hands on her hips. Moira and Raven ran over.

"Are you alright?" Raven asked, coming to Charles' side.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

"So, who's this guy?" Moira asked, looking at Erik.

"Oh, right. Everyone this is-"

"Erik Lehnsehrr." (Dakota was getting in the habit of interrupting Charles.) "He can control metal. Evident, by what Shaw's boat looks like now." She cleared her throat. "Class four. Brown hair, blue-gray eyes. Born April 22nd, 1932. In Berlin, Germany." Erik starred at her.

"How-"

"I can sense other mutants and their powers. I'm also fast."

"How fast?" the agent asked, joining the group. Dakota was suddenly behind him.

"Boo!" The agent jumped. "That fast." She smiled at the agent's confusion, but quickly turned her attention back to Erik. "Obviously, you have a score to settle with Shaw. And the CIA are trying to get him, too. So, knowing Charles he's going ask you if you want to come with us and help the CIA, but I'm gonna beat him to the chase. If you want to come with us, cool. We could use another mutant on our side. We will be heading back to land tonight and hopefully we will be at this gentleman's," she motioned to the agent, "research facility by morning." She started walking away.

"So, if anyone needs me, I'll be below deck. Trying very hard not to throw up from sea sickness." Everyone stared at her as she left. She was about ten feet away when she stopped, snapped her fingers; like she forgot something, and came back. She walked straight up to Erik, held out her hand, and said, "Dakota Patience." He looked at her hand and then at her. "You were wondering what my name was. It's Dakota Patience." Erik slowly nodded, and shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure," he said.

"Oh, believe me. The pleasure is all mine, dear heart." She smirked and walked away. Erik blinked and looked at Charles.

"Is she always like this?"

"Yes," answered Raven. "But don't worry you get used to her." Charles chuckled. Erik's gaze on Dakota lingered as she walked away.

' _Interesting,'_ he thought.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3 IS DONE! Alright people tell me what you thought, or what you think; whichever. Chapter 4 will be done soon (hopefully). Review please. NOTE: Chapter 4 will be the whole Cerebro thing. (If I keep writing Chapter 4 will be up the same time as Chapter 3 is!) Bye-bye. ;)**


	4. Five Dollars

Covert CIA Research Base

It was the afternoon of the next day, and Erik had decided to come with the rest of them. It was a tight fit in Moira's car, but they managed. When they arrived though, everyone was eager to get out and stretch their legs. "Welcome to my facility," the agent said, once everyone was out. "My mission has been to investigate the application of paranormal powers in military defense."

"Or offense," Erik added.

"This guy Shaw, Schmidt, whatever you want to call him, he's working with the Russians. We might need your help to stop him."

"Marvelous," Charles said, not sounding enthused. "So we're to be the CIA's new mutant division, yes?"

"Something like that."

They walked into the facility, and into a giant room. Hanging from the ceiling was a model of a plane. Everyone leaned against a railing and stopped to admire it. "It's a supersonic," a voice said. A boy (who couldn't have been over 20) with brown hair and glasses, came over to where the others stood. Dakota knew right away he was a mutant. "The most advanced plane ever built. You should see it in real life. It's incredible."

"Hank, these are the special new recruits I was telling you about." The agent motioned to Charles, Erik, Dakota, and Raven. "This is Hank McCoy, one of our most talented young researchers." Hank smiled and nodded.

"How wonderful," Charles said. He went over to shake the young man's hand. "Another mutant, already here." Hank's expression dropped.

"Ahh, Charles?" Dakota asked, seeing the agent's and Hank's expression.

"Why didn't you say?" Charles turned and asked the agent.

"Say what?" Charles read the agent's mind. (And the look Dakota was giving him.)

He sighed, "Because you don't know." He turned to Hank, "I am so, so terribly sorry." Hank shook his head. His way of saying it was alright. The agent was shocked; he slowly walked over.

"Hank?" he asked not believing it.

"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell," Hank shrugged.

"So," Raven walked over. Hank froze; he had never seen someone so beautiful. "Your mutation is what? You're super-smart?"

"I'll say," Charles said, "Hank here graduated Harvard at the age of 15."

"Wow," Dakota said, still standing by the railing next to Erik. "Talk about a brainiac." Erik raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean that in a good way." Hank was still staring at Raven; he was star-struck.

"I wish that's all it was." Moira walked over, too.

"You're among friends now, Hank. You can show off." Hank blinked and looked away from Raven. Everyone, minus Dakota and Erik, were standing around Hank, as he took off his shoes and socks. His feet were not like 'normal' feet. They looked more like hands. Dakota smirked. Charles chuckled, "Splendid." The agent and Moira stared. Hank looked nervously around at the group. Raven beamed at Hank. He smiled an uneasy smile back.

"I'm sorry," he said as he walked under the model plane; making the group moved out of his way. He jumped in the air and started to do a backflip. But instead of landing on his feet; his feet grabbed the edge of the model plane's wing. He was now hanging upside down. Charles, Dakota, and Raven all laughed, and Moira and the agent gasped. Erik didn't seem impressed.

"Ta-da!" Raven, still beaming, walked over. She was amazed.

"You're amazing."

"Really?" The two shared a look; Dakota could tell they liked each other. Erik looked between the two of them. He was still frowning; Dakota glanced at him. She softly elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ow, hey!"

"If that really hurt, you've got tuff times ahead, dear heart."

He rubbed the spot where Dakota had elbowed him. (She wasn't sure what she hurt worst: his side or his pride.) "Why did you-"

"Because you need to loosen up and relax. You're all whatever about Shaw and you're being a real party-pooper, you know that?" Erik chuckled, and walked away. Dakota glanced back at Charles and the others, and then at Erik. She sighed and went to join the group's praises about Hank's powers.

* * *

The agent showed the group their rooms. Moira had the first room on the right, Raven the second on the right, Dakota the third on the right, Erik the first on the left, Charles the second on the left, and Hank had a room in a different section of the facility. (When Charles asked if it was alright if he and Dakota could share a room; Dakota could swear she felt Erik's eyes piercing the back of her head. She was probably was just imagining it.)

Dakota and Charles shared what would have been Charles' room. They were unpacking their suitcases, when Dakota came across a little black jewelry box. (Too big to be a _ring_ box.) "Charles, what's this?"

He turned, "Oh, I completely forgot about that." He walked over and took the box out of her hands. "I was going to give this to you at the bar, but then Moira came and uh…"

"Everything that happened, happened?" Dakota offered. Charles nodded. He held it to her. She took it; giving Charles a speculating look. She took off the lid and ripped out a piece of tissue paper, and there it was…a pearl bracelet. "Oh my gosh." Charles laughed. "Are they real?" Charles raised an eyebrow. "I mean it's lovely…real good Dakota, make yourself sound selfish, I mean…I love it!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Dakota took the bracelet out of the box and unlatched the clasp. She put it on her left wrist, and Charles helped her re-latch the clasp. She held out her wrist, so she could look at it. "Thank you. Truly, dear heart, I love it!" Charles smiled, and went back to unpacking his suitcase. She stared at her new beautiful bracelet. He really was the sweetest jerk.

Three steps forward, one step back.

* * *

Hank had asked Raven to meet him that night (not on a date, mind you but, to take some of her blood). He wanted her blood because of the nature of her mutation. They both realized something that night: they both wanted to change their appearances and fit into society. To be… 'normal'. Hank took the blood, and Raven was about to kiss him, when Erik interrupted.

"Kinky." Raven quickly turned and backed away from Hank. "By the way, if I looked like you," he said to at Raven, "I wouldn't change a thing." Hank glared at Erik. Raven looked away; embarrassed. Erik glanced between the two of them and then walked away. Hank and Raven looked at each other; the mood had been broken.

Erik's only reason for staying was twofold: one, he wanted to see what the CIA had on Shaw; so when he went looking for him again he didn't need to start from scratch; and two, he was fascinated with Dakota Patience. Her attitude, her sarcastic comments, the way she threw her hair out of her face. She was pretty, yes, but Erik had seen his share of pretty girls who couldn't even begin to match Dakota's wit and her will. It was a lousy reason, because he saw the way Charles and Dakota looked at each other. It was obvious they were together.

(It was made more obvious, when Charles asked if they could share rooms. Erik couldn't help himself, from glaring at both of them.) But yet here he was, wasting valuable time daydreaming about some girl that he could never have a chance with. He grabbed the files on Shaw, and put them in a briefcase. He was searching the file cabinet, just to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

He had no idea that Dakota was sitting on the desk behind him.

Dakota cleared her throat, causing Erik to half jump, half turn. "From what I know about you, I can't believe you stayed this long." He blinked, confused about how she got there; then he remembered that she was 'fast'.

"What do you know about me?"

"Everything."

"Then you know to stay out of my head." He turned and shut the briefcase. Dakota laughed.

"Easier said than done, dear heart." He turned and met her eyes.

"Charles does a pretty good job at it. I can expect the same from you."

"My telepathy is my weakest power, dear heart."

"Then, Charles told you everything," Erik growled. He trusted Charles not to tell anyone about why he was after Shaw.

"Contrary to what you may believe, Charles does not dig around in people's head, learning their dirtiest, darkest secrets. That's what _I_ do. No, I know everything about you because we are connected." She pointed between the two of them when she said the word 'connected'.

"What do you mean connected?" Erik set the briefcase on the desk beside Dakota. He stood right in front of her. She couldn't get off the desk now.

"One of my powers is the connection. It is similar to Charles' telepathy, except it can't make people do things, forget things, and it only works with certain people."

"Certain people?" he asked inching closer to Dakota.

Dakota gulped, suddenly feeling awkward. She lowered her gaze, before saying, "For the last few years, I thought I was only connected to one person. Charles." Erik nodded; now he was only a few inches away from her face. "That is until I met you." Her gaze met his eyes. He leaned in, about to kiss her, only to be softly pushed away. Dakota hopped off the desk. She gave him a small smile.

"I'm sure this," she pointed between the two of them again, "would be fun, dear heart, but I'm still with Charles." She pondered for a minute, "At the moment." Erik chuckled.

"And to think I thought you were beginning to like me." Dakota crossed her arms and smirked.

"Do tell."

"Well, you keep calling me 'dear heart'."

"I call everyone 'dear heart', dear heart." She shook her head around; trying to get the hair out of her eyes, but only succeeded in it covering the entire left side of her face. She sighed, annoyed.

Erik smirked and grabbed the briefcase. "As you said, this could be fun," he reached out and brushed Dakota's hair behind her ear. The action caused chills to go up and down her back. "But I have other things to do." He walked out of the room; Dakota was quickly beside him.

"Look, you can stay. I know you think nobody understands, but I do." Erik kept walking, and didn't even share a passing glance at Dakota. "You don't need to do this alone, I can-"

"Help me?" he suddenly stopped. Dakota kept walking for about two steps; then came to a screeching halt. "I do not need your help." He looked her in the eye; he almost seemed mad at her. Dakota didn't know why, she was only trying to help.

Erik continued walking. "Look, I know we technically haven't know each other for more than a day but, I feel like I've known you my whole life. I know what Shaw did to you. What he did to your mother." Erik slowed down. "I know you went after him. I-I know about Magda." Erik turned to face her. She hesitated, "And Anya." His expression was unreadable; he tried to make the illusion that Dakota's words didn't mean anything to him.

His mind, however, gave him away. He tried not to think about Magda, or Anya; it was too painful. He focused on finding Shaw, that's what he did, nonstop, for the last few years. He was a creature of the night; constantly moving from place to place, living in the shadows, waiting for a lead on Shaw. Never becoming close to anyone. Dakota would be nothing more than a distraction; something keeping him from killing Shaw. A beautiful distraction. Besides, he had done fine on his own so far; it was a little late to change his habits.

He glared at her, "I don't need your help." He walked away, this time Dakota didn't follow.

"Fine! But just to let you know, Charles is waiting outside so he can convince you not to leave."

"You told him?"

"No! He had a feeling you would leave, I knew you would leave."

"Great, I have to listen to another lecture."

"If I can't convince you, I know Charles will. He wants to help you, too! You'll stay here, mark my words."

"No, I won't."

"Yes, you will."

"No, I won't!"

"Five dollars, says you will!"

"Whatever." Erik was now to the end of the hall and turned down another hall. In a minute or two, he would be at the door. Dakota glared at where he was standing. She placed a hand on her hip.

"Stubborn man! He irritates me so! Oh well, Charles will talk him into staying and I," she looked around the hall, and suddenly realized she was alone. "And I am talking to myself, again. Great." She spun on her heels and sped to her and Charles' room.

Erik made out of the building, and besides Dakota, without seeing so much as a janitor. He was walking; thinking he had made it home free; when he heard, "From what I know about you, I'm surprised you've managed to stay this long." Erik stopped and groaned. Here we go again!

He turned, "What do you know about me?" He was curious to see what Charles said.

"Everything." Erik now doubted that; thanks to Dakota.

"Then you know to stay out of my head." He walked away; tired of these people trying to stop him.

"I'm sorry, Erik, but I've seen what Shaw did to you. I've felt your agony. I can help you." Erik laughed softly; Dakota got one thing right, Charles did want to help him.

"I don't need your help." He was beginning to sound like a broken record.

"Don't kid yourself. You needed my help last night. It's not just me you're walking away from. Here you have a chance to be part of something much bigger than yourself." Erik blinked. "I won't stop you from leaving. I could." Charles blinked a couple times and started to back away. "But I won't." He turned and walked back to the doors. "Shaw's got friends. You could do with some." Charles went back into the facility. Erik looked at the ground; now he didn't know what to do.

* * *

Dakota was already in bed when Charles got back. "So, is he going to stay?" Dakota didn't bother to hide the eagerness in her voice.

"I'm not sure." Charles took of his sweater, and unbuttoned the buttons of his shirt. "He seemed determine to leave." Dakota nodded; disappointed. Charles grabbed his night shirt; which was basically a white t-shirt; took off his button down shirt, and pulled the shirt over his head. He glanced at Dakota and noticed how sad she looked.

' _What's wrong?'_

' _I just thought he would stay. I…wanted to help him.'_ Charles smiled. He walked to the bed and sat down next to her. He ran a hand though her hair, then went back up to caress her face.

' _That's what I love about you, you always want to help others.'_

Dakota scoffed, _'You're the one who went to Virginia to help Moira when you just met her AND, you're the one who jumped off a boat to save Erik.'_ Charles kissed her cheek, then her neck. She sighed. He ran his hand through her hair again, and set his hand on her shoulder. He slowly moved her shirt back, to feel her warm skin. She shuttered. "What?"

She fixed her shirt, and sat up straight, "Not tonight Charles." Charles opened his mouth, shut it, and nodded. He got up and continued getting ready for bed. Dakota sat in bed thinking.

* * *

The next morning Charles and Dakota went to meet with the agent. He had come up with a way for them to find more mutants. They sat in the agent's office, where there was a big window. Outside the window was a radar installation, which looked like a giant golf ball (or like the big statue at Epcot).

"Hank turned that radar installation into a transmitter. It's designed to amplify brainwaves so it could enhance your telepathic powers, help us find other mutants for our division."

"What if they don't want to be found by you?" Dakota and Charles both turned. Dakota smiled. So did Charles.

"Erik. You decided to stay." Erik nodded glancing from Charles to Dakota. He looked back to the agent.

"If a new species is being discovered, it should be by its own kind. Charles, Dakota, and I find the mutants. No suits."

"First of all, that's my machine out there," the agent pointed out the window. "Second of all, and much more importantly, this is Charles' decision." Dakota turned to face Charles. Erik glanced over. "Charles is fine with the CIA being involved. Isn't that right?"

' _Back me up on this Charles,'_ Erik said.

' _You know he's right,'_ Dakota said. Charles looked between the two of them and said, "No." Erik half smiled. "I'm sorry, but I'm with Erik," he motioned his head towards Erik. "We find them alone."

The agent said, "What if I say no?" Charles raised his eyebrows.

"Then good luck using your installation without me." Dakota crossed her arms and tilt her head back, so she could look down her nose at the agent.

"Your move, dear heart."

Obviously, the agent allowed the three of them to be the only ones to find the mutants. They all went to the installation, followed by Raven. As they walked Dakota turned to Erik, "Why did you stay?"

"Not happy?" he asked, mockingly.

"That's…I just met…" Erik smirked at her. "Oh. You can be extremely irritating, you know that?" Erik smiled. He pulled something from his pocket; a five dollar bill. He handed it to Dakota, who took it with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, you were right," and that was end of that.

They walked up the stairs of the installation; when they reached the top an automatic door opened. They all went inside; Hank was already there.

"I call it Cerebro," he said in reference to the round room. Charles laughed.

"As in-"

"Spanish for brain?" Hank clarified.

"Yes."

"Talk about a big round room," Dakota looked up at the ceiling, walking backwards as she looked. She almost fell down the stairs; she wasn't paying attention. Erik caught her by her arm. "Thanks," she laughed, slightly embarrassed.

"Just be more careful." Dakota smirked at his sternness.

"Okay. So, the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof." Hank walked to the back of the installation where a bunch of machines were humming. Raven followed; intrigued. "When he picks up a mutant, his brain sends a signal through a relay." Charles checked out the electrodes. Dakota looked at them, too. (In a way she wanted to be the one to use Cerebro.)

"And then the co-ordinates of their location are printed out here." Erik and Raven both looked.

"You designed this?" Raven asked.

"Yeah." Charles smoothed back his hair and stood on the small platform. He brought the electrodes down on his head. (The electrodes was basically a helmet connected to a big pole, with a bunch of wiring coming out all over the place.) He stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for Hank to turn on the machine.

"What an adorable lab rat you make, Charles," Erik mocked.

"Don't spoil this for me, Erik."

Erik pointed to himself, "I've been a lab rat. I know one when I see one." Dakota had a hand on the railing around the small platform. Hank came over checking the electrodes.

"Okay, great." He asked Charles one more time, "Are you sure we can't shave your head?"

"Don't touch my hair." Hank nodded and went to turn on the machine.

"Hank, if you touch his hair," Dakota said pointing to Charles, "we will being having a really long conversation." Erik chuckled. Hank turned a bunch of switches, powering up the machine. The automatic door closed. Dakota took her hand off the railing. Charles closed his eyes. The machine lit up.

Charles yelled, "Ahh!" He held on to the railing; eyes wide open. He seemed alright, except for the causal strange noise or face expression.

"It's working!" Hank said looking at the co-ordinates that were being typed out. Charles laughed; he had never felt so many minds! There were so many mutants out there. Children, teens, adults, elders; they all were out there having the same struggle. It was amazing.

To Charles it felt like a minute later the machine shut off. The sudden loose of minds came as a shock to Charles. He felt dizzy. He could feel himself falling down, but someone caught him.

Dakota ran over to where Erik had managed to catch Charles. He gently laid him on the floor. "Charles! Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. Why'd Hank turn off the machine…s-so early?" His words came out slow and slurred.

Dakota brushed Charles' hair off his forehead. "Dear heart, you've been connected to Cerebro for almost an hour."

Charles seemed surprised, "Really?"

"Really."

"Oh."

"Come on," Erik said, helping Charles to his feet, "you should rest." Charles nodded and started to walk away but again almost fell down. Erik helped him down the stairs and to Dakota's room. They would start looking for the possible candidates, to join their CIA 'unit', tomorrow.

* * *

 **And scene… Chapter 4, you have been a pain in my side. I will tell you all Chapter 5 might be uploaded soon. (I'm not going to be able to upload or write for a while, it is the summer.) I'll be back to writing soon! Review please. Thanks. ;)**


	5. Hi, do you want to join the CIA? Part 1

**Hello! I'm back. Sorry for the prolonged wait! This is where they go look for the mutants. I'm changing the timeline so they can be searching for the mutants for like two to three weeks. I also have decided to make this a 'two parter' chapter. (Chapter 5 was getting too long so it is going to be finished in Chapter 6.) I'm writing this like a third person diary entrée. Hope you like it! ;)**

* * *

Charles was able to rest and was better the next day. Charles, Erik, and Dakota looked over the co-ordinates of the mutants. They decided that the mutants were to be no younger than 17 and no older than 50. (They didn't want a kid or an elder to be involved in possible dangerous situations.) They would drive every day going to the different co-ordinates asking the mutant there if they wanted to join the CIA 'unit'. It would take a couple weeks to drive to all the co-ordinates.

Week 1, Day 1:

Charles, Erik, and Dakota were going to leave in one of the CIA's black cars, at around 8:00 AM. Charles and Dakota said a quick good-bye to Raven. As they walked to the doors Dakota expressed her excitement. "Ohh, this going to fun! Traveling around with you two, seeing mutants if they want to come with us, it will be exciting!" Erik and Charles glanced at each other. Dakota walked ahead of them and then started walking backwards so she could talk to them and still see them. "By the way, when we're out, can we stop at a clothing store?"

"Why?" Charles asked.

"Two reasons. One I need new lace-up boots. I starting to wear a hole in these," she pointed to her black boots; which came up to her knees. "And two," she cleared her throat, "I want to shop for some clothes for Erik." Erik gave her an odd look.

"Why do you want to shop for me?"

"Because, no offense, but you need more color in your wardrobe. I mean, look at yourself, dear heart. You, like, only wear black. Talk about depressing clothes!"

"Nothing is wrong with my clothes."

"Ya-ha!"

"I thought you had like, a million pairs of boots," Charles interrupted.

"Okay, I do not have _a million_ pairs of boots." She sighed. "I have 37 pairs of boots."

"37 pairs of boots!" Erik exclaimed. "I haven't had that many pairs of shoes in my life."

"Yeah, well, you're a guy. You don't understand how important shoes are." Erik rolled his eyes. "Back to the matter at hand, you need new clothes!" She pointed at Erik.

"I'm sorry, Dakota, but we need to concentrate on finding the mutants."

Dakota scowled, "You people never want to do anything fun." She turned back around so she was walking forwards again. Erik and Charles glanced at each other, again.

"She doesn't take not getting her way very good, does she?" Erik asked. Charles smiled.

"You have no idea." They reached the doors, and walked outside. It was hot. Dakota had on black slacks, a blue-green shirt, and a blue floral scarf. "Bloody hell, I didn't know we were in for a heat wave!" She roughly tried to take off her scarf.

"Need some help?" Charles asked. Dakota turned again; walking backwards again. "No." She was still struggling with the knot as they walked towards the end of the side walk. She wasn't paying attention, again. "Dakota, mind the-" Charles started. Dakota fell off the curb and almost fell backwards. "Curb." Charles didn't know why he bothered.

Dakota caught herself, but didn't acknowledge that she almost fell; she was still focused on the blasted knot. She kept walking backwards. "Dakota," Erik started.

"What?" she snapped.

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to tell you to mind the-" Dakota banged into the black car that they were going drive. "Car." She turned around, and glared at the car. Erik chuckled. She still struggled with the scarf. Charles sighed, "Let me look at it."

"No! I'm fine!"

Erik came over, took the scarf out of Dakota's hands, roughly unknotted the knot, took it off of her, and held it to her. She raised an eyebrow at him. He did the same to her. She took the scarf. He walked around to the front of the car; he was going to drive first. Charles got into the other front seat, and Dakota got into the back seat. "Next time, I'm calling shot gun."

* * *

They had been in the car for about two hours, and had driven in silence for the most part. Dakota was getting bored. (Which is never a good thing.) "You people are quuieeet." She folded her hands behind her head. "Seriously! I mean, turn on the radio, or something."

"There is no radio in this car," Erik said.

"There is no radio in this car," Dakota repeated; not believing it.

"Yep," Charles said. Dakota had to see this for herself. She practically climbed up in the front seat between Charles and Erik. "What-?"

"I'm checking this out for myself. I've never heard of a car without a radio." Erik looked from the road to Dakota to the road. She checked out the dashboard, feeling for a button. "It's got to be hidden…" she mumbled.

After a few more seconds, Dakota huffed and sat back down. She crossed her arms and glared out the window. "Talk about cheap CIA cars." Two miles later she started humming a tune. Charles did not, nor did Erik, recognize the tune. It was pleasant though. She went from humming, to whistling, to tapping the tune on her legs, to singing. "'Cause baby now we got bad blood. You know, it used to be mad love. So take a look at what you've done. 'Cause baby now we got bad blood. Hey!" Charles and Erik gave each other a look.

* * *

After a long day of driving (and listening to Dakota sing) they stopped at a hotel in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Charles and Dakota shared a room, and Erik had the room next to them. It didn't take long for them to fall fast asleep.

Out of the three of them, one slept soundly, and the other two had dreams.

Erik had, had the same dream as long as he could remember: his mother being shot, Shaw smiling over him as he inserted a syringe in his arm, Magda's tear-stricken face illuminated by the raising flames of their home, the feeling of being completely helpless. He woke with a start. He sat in bed and rubbed his eyes. What it must be like, he wondered, to sleep through the night with no nightmares.

Dakota's dream evolved. The beginning was the same, but this time something new happened. She was laying on the ground, on her side. Her head was reeling. "Dakota!" someone from her dream shouted. She couldn't tell who it was; it was definitely a man, she knew that. "Dakota! Are you alright?" The voice felt closer this time, like it was hovering over her. Someone knelt down beside her and turned her on her back. They cradled her head and stroke her hair. "Dakota? Please, please be alright." His voice had such desperation in it. She slowly opened her eyes; everything was still blurry. She couldn't tell who this man was, but he did seem familiar. Then suddenly, it was like her dream before: stumbling out, seeing Charles, the burning pain, her scream.

She screamed; sitting up in bed gasping. Charles woke up. He sat up and tried to comfort her. "It's okay, it's okay. Don't worry."

She turned on him, "You said that before! 'Don't worry!' I think I have something to bloody freakin' worry about, don't you?!" She threw off the covers and got out of bed. She went to the bathroom, turned on the lights, and slammed the door.

She instantly felt guilty for yelling at Charles; he was only trying to help. But it annoyed her. Most people remembered their dreams. She didn't remember one single thing and she had had this dream for months, now. And she wasn't supposed to worry? She looked at her reflection. Physically, she looked alright. But mentally, she was literally scared to go to bed. She turned on the water and splashed the water in her face. She was really starting to hate that dream.

Charles sat in bed; shocked at Dakota's little outburst. He considered entering her mind and calm her down, but thought better of it. She'd be mad. (She only wanted him in her head on her terms.) A second later he heard a knock on the door. He got up and answered it. It was Erik.

"What was that? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Charles said rubbing his head. "Dakota just had this…dream. She's been having it for a while now but…"

"But?"

"She can't remember anything about it and she's worrying about it. She…she thinks something bad is going to happen." Erik glanced over Charles' shoulder and saw the light from under the bathroom door.

"She's okay, though?" Charles paused. He could tell that Erik was almost as worried about her as he was. It was obvious he cared about her, but how much?

"Yeah. She'll be fine, she's tough." Erik nodded, and the two of them just stood there for a minute. Erik glanced at the bathroom door again. Charles cleared his throat. Erik looked at Charles then nodded again, and slowly walked back to his room. Charles shut the door. It was the start of an interesting few days.

* * *

Week 1, Day 2:

They reached their first destination. It was outside of Harrisonburg; a little town called Quicksburg. Their first 'candidate' was there, a girl named Angel Salvadore. Quicksburg was small, but it did have few stores. A few bars. A few strip clubs. One strip club in particular, Flower Child, was where Angel worked.

"Strip clubs are the most sexist, degrading, disrespectful things on this Earth! Women have to take off their clothes for a bunch of drunken men. Then they only get minimal wage, on top of that! It's sickening!" (A few things about Dakota; one, when she had an opinion she stuck to it and two, when she started ranting about something it was really hard to stop her.) "Some women are forced into this lifestyle because they can't get any other jobs. And once they get out of the lifestyle, if they even can, people look at them like they're aliens! I mean, what do you think?" She pointed to Charles.

"Ah, um…Well like you said it's degrading to, um women," he stumbled on his words; he wasn't expecting to be put on the spot like that. They found a parking place outside of Flower Child and parked the car. The three of them got out and Dakota ran to the front of the car.

She pointed at Erik, "What do you think?"

He cleared his throat, "It's terrible to think that so many men are no longer upstanding gentlemen." Dakota nodded; happy with his answer.

Erik looked at Charles, "We're going to stay and watch a while before we go and find this girl, right?" Charles laughed. Dakota punched Erik in the arm.

"You jerk! You didn't mean what you said at all!"

"Calm down! I was only joking," he said with a smile. "God! Why can't you ever take a joke?"

"I can take a joke, when they're funny!" She glared at him and turned to Charles. "Listen to me, just go in, find Angel, and get out."

"Worried are we?" Erik asked, smirking. "Worried he's going to meet a nice blond?" Dakota waved her hand at him; shushing him.

"Conversation not evolving you, dear heart."

"Dakota," Charles said; getting her attention. "We're just going to go in, wait for her to come out and take her aside and ask her if she wants to come with us."

"So, you're going to sit and watch all the other girls before her?" Charles glanced at the club.

"Pretty much, yeah." Dakota groaned and rolled her eyes. She looked between the two of them and shook her head.

"You know, I can find her faster than the two of you. I'll just go in and ask her myself." She started walking towards the front door. Charles and Erik ran after her and stopped her by grabbing her arms.

Erik waved a finger, "No women are allowed in, unless they are part of the entertainment." Charles nodded; agreeing with him. She glared at both of them; they released her arms. "Maybe you should just wait by the car," Charles said.

"Unless you want to be part of the entertainment," Erik smirked.

"Men!" Dakota threw up her hands. "They don't care what you say. They don't care about your opinion. They just don't care! As long as they see some pretty women in their underwear, they're all set!" She stormed back to the car. Charles and Erik just stood there.

"Well, that was fun," Erik said with a cheeky smile. Charles chuckled. They walked into the club and were seated at a table. "How many girls are we going to see before this girl comes out?" Erik asked Charles.

"Not many, she's the first main act."

Erik laughed, "And Dakota didn't know that?"

"Nope." The two of them waited a few minutes and then the girls came out. They were smiling their heads off. Dakota was sulking in the car, feeling the heat of jealously. She crossed her arms and threw her hair out of her face.

A girl came out, walking on the table top. She was wearing a black bra and a black mini skirt. She had tattoos up her arms and over her back. This was Angel. Erik grabbed out a fifty and waved it in the air. She slowly walked over to them, her hips moving from side to side. She crouched down and took the fifty.

"For that, daddy-o, you get a private dance." Erik and Charles smiled at each other. Dakota wanted to walk in there and smack both of them.

Charles and Erik were seated on a bed; clinging their champagne glasses together; in a private room. "You cats know it's double for both, right?" They both took a sip of their champagne.

"Mmm, no that won't be necessary. Although I'm sure it'd be magical," Charles said.

' _Charles Xavier, you get out here right now,'_ Dakota snapped.

"We were thinking more, we'll show you ours if you'll show us yours," Erik said, nonchalantly.

' _You too, Erik.'_

"Baby, that is not the way things work around here," Angel said, placing a hand on her hip. Erik snapped his fingers; the metal champagne holder flew over to him. Angel looked at them confused.

"More tea, Charles?" Erik asked.

"Don't mind if I do." He took another sip and they both looked at Angel.

"My turn," she said.

She unsnapped her bra; letting it hang from her neck. Her tattoos started to move and come alive. They were wings. When her wings were fully opened she flew up, a foot or so, off the ground. Her wings made a humming/buzzing sound like a dragonfly's wings. Charles and Erik shared a look. "How would like a job where you get to keep your clothes on?"

Ten minutes later; Charles, Erik, and (a fully clothed) Angel all walked out to the car, where Dakota waited, not so patiently. "There you are! I was beginning to think you weren't coming out." They came over, Erik went to the front of the car. Angel walked over to Dakota.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Angel Salvadore. Flight, through dragonfly wings, and acidic saliva. Class Two. Black hair, brown eyes. Born August 16th, 1940, in Quicksburg, Virginia."

"How-?"

"She senses other mutants and their powers," Erik said, interrupting Angel's question. She nodded slowly and turned her attention back to Dakota.

"So, did they find you and ask you to join the CIA, too?"

"No. I'm here with them, looking for the mutants."

"Ah." They stood there, not knowing what to say next. So, they both got in the back seat. During the trip back to the base, Angel talked about life and growing up in Quicksburg.

They managed to get to the base that night. (Erik was dead tired, though. Charles had offered to drive back, but Erik refused; he didn't want anyone else driving. He was kind of a control freak.) The four of them went into the facility. Hank and Raven were still up; they were getting into the habit of sitting up all night talking.

"Hey! You're back." Raven smiled and got up from the table that she and Hank were sitting at. Dakota ran over and hugged her sister.

"Yep! We are back. For a night anyway." She turned and pointed to Angel. "This is Angel Salvadore. Our first new member for our CIA unit."

"Hi, I'm Raven." Raven and Angel shook hands and seemed to hit it off. (Dakota was happy to see Raven had a friend; especially since it was always hard for Raven to make friends. But something about Angel rubbed her wrong.)

* * *

Week 1, Day 3:

They took off the next day, heading towards Richmond, Virginia. (There were a lot of mutants there, which had the potential to be in the unit. Erik looked exhausted, but he still wanted to drive.) "You know, dear heart," Dakota said, strolling over to where Erik stood by the car. "If you're tired, Charles or I can take over for a day or two."

Erik shook his head, "I'm fine."

Dakota scoffed, "You've got bags under your eyes. In fact, your bags have bags!" Erik rolled his eyes and got in the car. She ran around the car and sat in the seat next to him. (She called shot gun ahead of time.) "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. Everything is fine," Erik said. Dakota raised an eyebrow. "Why would you think something's wrong?"

"Well, let's see…" she said, tapping her chin. (Erik regretted asking the question.) "One, we're connected and two, I can tell when something is wrong with a person, even when I'm not connected to them!"

He glanced at her, "Why do you care?"

She signed, "How long do I have to keep convincing you that I care, until you trust me?" He looked away, suddenly wanting Charles to come out and have them start their long day of driving, so this conversation could end.

"I trust you," he whispered, "you're just too damn nosey." As a last thought he added, "And protective." Her gaze turned into a glare.

"Talk about a grouch." Erik placed his hands on the steering wheel, and glared out the window.

Where the heck was Charles, anyways?

He sighed, deciding that Dakota had a right to know about his dream (if she didn't already know). "It's just-every night it's the same. I always have this dream, no matter what I do, no matter how tired I am. I always have that damned dream."

Dakota's glare softened. She gently put her hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her. She smiled, not one of her smirk smiles, but a real smile. "I didn't mean to be 'too damn nosey, and protective.' I just-you know, care about you," she said.

Erik blinked and swallowed, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat. "I haven't had someone really care about me since…" He looked away.

"Yeah, I know. It's okay." She moved her hand down his shoulder, across his arm, and placed it on his hand, that was still griping the steering wheel. He turned back to face her, they were a few inches away, again.

Erik felt that urge to lean in and kiss her; just like he had their first night at the base. This time he restrained himself, he didn't know how long he would even stay here. (Besides he had caught a glimpse of the pearl bracelet that Charles had given to her; a constant reminder that she was spoken for. And he had grown to like Charles and did not want to steel his girlfriend.) Her two beautiful blue colored eyes pierced his; he had to change the subject.

"So, what can the mutants we're looking for do?" She blinked. She slowly took her hand off of his. She adjusted her bracelet and cleared his throat.

"There's a guy with super strength. A lady who can see the future. A boy who can project energy. And there's this guy who can heal really fast." Erik nodded, pretending to be interested.

"Where is Charles?" Erik asked.

She chuckled, "Impatient, are we?"

"You're one to talk."

She smirked. "He's getting the paper work, to get the boy who can project energy out of prison."

Erik raised his eyebrows, "Where going to recruit a person who's currently in jail?"

She paused, "Yep."

A minute later, Charles came out with the needed paper work. He hurried to the car and got into the back seat. "Sorry for taking so long. Moira was finishing up the paper work." Erik and Dakota glanced at each other. "Did I miss something?" Charles asked, looking between the two of them.

"No," Dakota said still looking at Erik. "Nothing." She glanced away and fiddled with her bracelet. Erik started the car and put it in gear. Charles looked at them again, than leaned back in his seat.

* * *

They made it as far as Abingdon, Virginia before Erik asked if it was time for a break. "Dear heart, we've been on the road for an hour." Erik was surprised; it felt like he had been driving for twelve hours. Dakota studied him for a while.

"What?" he snapped.

She looked out the window and around the small city. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her mind searched quickly; and when it found what she was looking for, she opened her eyes and exclaimed, "Stop!"

On reflex, Erik did. The three of them all jerked forward, from the sudden stop. "What is it?" Charles asked. Dakota was still looking out the window. The cars behind them honked at them to move. Erik gave them a glance, put his hand out of the window, and waved them to go around them.

"Dakota, you better have a good reason for making me stop," Erik snapped. (That's twice he snapped at her and got away with it.)

"See that man over there?" she motioned her head across the street. Charles and Erik looked. There was an African American taxi driver, helping an older couple with their bags. "His name is Armando Munoz. He also goes by Darwin. He's a mutant, who's adapt to survive."

"Okay, so why-?" Charles started.

"Did you stop me?" Erik finished. She turned to face both of them.

"One, he was a mutant who Charles picked up but we didn't decide to come here and get him so, since we're here I'm deciding to get him. Two, we could use someone like him. And three, most importantly, Erik is exhausted and won't let anyone else drive, so I think we should just pay for a taxi."

Charles and Erik just gave her a deadpan expression. She looked at both of them, decided they weren't coming willingly, and opened her car door. She started walking across the street, ignoring the oncoming traffic.

"Dakota, wait!"

"Get back here!"

She continued walking, and didn't even flinch as a car came to a screeching halt a few inches away from her. The driver blared his horn at her. "Oh dear," Charles said, scrambling to get out of the car. "You, park the car. I'll go after her," he told Erik.

"You don't think someone will try to steal the car?"

"No one would try to steal a CIA car." And with that Charles shut the door and went after Dakota. He tried to wait for traffic to slow down, but for a small city, Abingdon had one hell of a rush hour. He concluded that the only way to get across the street was to just run across and hope that no one ran him over.

He zigzagged through the cars. He thought it was clear, but almost got ran over. "Whoa! Whoa, whoa." He held out his hands. The driver stopped and honked his horn at Charles. "Sorry about that." He doubted that the driver could hear him, but he said it anyways.

He made it to the street corner, where Dakota stood there, beaming. "Decided to come over here?" He glared at her (as much as man could glare at the woman he loved).

"Are you crazy?"

"Quite, possibly." She looked at her nails and frowned, "I need to cut these. Maybe paint them."

Charles shook his head and sarcastically said, "You are amazing."

"Ahhh. You're amazing, too," she said with a smirk. Charles signed.

Erik ran over, "Car's parked."

Dakota smirked, "Good. Now come on." She walked to the taxi and opened the front door; Darwin looked up at Dakota. Charles and Erik ran over after her. She got in and sat next to Darwin; Charles, followed by Erik, got in the back seat.

Darwin looked at Dakota and looked at Charles and Erik through his rear view mirror. "Where to, fellas, and miss?"

(Charles and Erik made a silent agreement to go along with Dakota's outlandish plan.) "Richmond, Virginia, please," Erik said.

"Right, so, you want the airport? The station? What?" Darwin half chuckled.

"No, we were rather hoping you would take us all the way," Charles said, with a smile.

"That's a six-hour drive."

"That will give us plenty of time to talk," Erik said and motioned his hand to flip the meter down. (Evidently, Erik wasn't planning on paying Darwin.) Darwin's eyes flew to the meter.

Dakota smirked. "Hi," she said and held out her hand to him. "I'm Dakota Patience. That's Charles Xavier, and guy next to him is Erik Lensehrr. We wanted to ask you if you wanted to join the CIA."

Dakota wished she had a camera, because Darwin's expression was hilarious.

* * *

Dakota had been right on two accounts: One, Darwin would be a good addition to the team, and Two, Erik _was_ exhausted. (He fell asleep less than an hour after Darwin got on the interstate heading to Richmond.) Darwin drove basically the whole time to Richmond and got them there at about 4 P.M. (Not bad really.)

They got a hotel, all on the same floor, different rooms; except for Charles and Dakota. Charles decided that they should head towards the penitentiary, where the mutant who could project energy was. The penitentiary was only an hour away. They should have gotten there at 5 P.M., talked to the warden, talk to the mutant, and gotten back to the hotel at about 7 P.M.

That did not happen.

"Life is short, you're capable. Ohh. Uh-oh. Look at your watch, now. You're still a superhot female. You got a million dollar contract. And they're all waiting for your hot track. What ya, what ya, what ya, what ya waiting for?"

"I've never heard that song before," Darwin said, interrupting Dakota's song. She slowly turned towards him, and said, "Of course, _you_ have never heard it. It's a song from the future. The lady, who wrote this hasn't even been born yet!"

"Okay, okay," Darwin waved his hand at her. "You don't have to get all moody. I'm sorry for asking a dumb question. Carry on." Her lips twitched upwards and she looked behind her at Charles and Erik.

"There's a guy, who understands how I work," she said pointing to Darwin.

Erik nodded, "Or he's adapted to survive you." Charles laughed but, abruptly stopped when he saw the glare Dakota was giving him. He shrunk away, like a child who had been scolded by his mother. Darwin chuckled and looked back at the road. There was smoke coming from under the hood of the car.

"Whoa!"

"Oh, no."

"Talk about smoky car engines."

"Pull over!"

"What did you do?"

"My mutation isn't controlling car engines, dear heart!"

"Will, you two stop arguing."

Darwin pulled to the side of the road. The four of them got out to examine the engine. Darwin opened the hood and they were meted with hot white smoke. They coughed, and tried to see the problem. Darwin squinted, through the smoke. "I don't know," he said after a while. "Maybe it just needs some water."

"Okay, great," Erik said taking in their surroundings. "Where are we supposed to get the water, genius?" He motioned to where they were; which was pretty much the middle of nowhere.

"Don't get sassy with me, mister."

"Maybe if we all calm down-"

"Calm down?! Do you see anybody? Do you see any water? Do you see the penitentiary?"

"…No. But-"

"We are stuck here. And I personally am not calming down." Dakota got back into the car; the back seat this time; and crossed her arms. Charles, Erik, and Darwin tried to see what was wrong with the car, than they tried to flag someone down to help them.

(You'd be surprised how many insensitive drivers, who don't want to help other people, there are in Abingdon.) Finally they gave up and went back to the car. Dakota was already asleep. Darwin sat in the driver's seat, Erik in the front seat next to him, and Charles in the back with Dakota. After a while they drifted off to sleep, which lead to…

* * *

Week 1, Day 4:

Dakota woke with a start. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. Darwin and Erik were asleep in the front. Charles was asleep next to her. She wondered why she woke up like that. Her first thought was the dream, but she usually woke up screaming. She slowly sat up straight, and straightened her wrinkled clothes. She looked outside, it was foggy, and not quite light yet. She opened the car door and shut it quietly behind her.

Have you ever had that sensation, where a place feels familiar; like you've been there before, but there is no way you could have been there before? That was the sensation Dakota was having. She looked at the hazy air and took a deep breath. She held it and closed her eyes. A second later she released it; it came out shaky.

And what happened next Dakota could not explain: an image formed in front of her closed eyes. It was like a dream that slowly formed into different shapes and colors; until the picture was crystal clear. And what she saw was an abandoned gas station, with a working payphone. Her eyes flew open.

"Guys! Wake up!" she yelled, running back to the car. She opened the back seat door and again yelled, "Wake up, guys!" Darwin woke up with a start and practically jumped out of his seat. He quickly looked around; he obviously thought something bad was happening.

Erik woke up with a groan, "Dakota you better have a good reason for waking me up."

"Oh, I do. But first I have to wake 'Sleeping Beauty' over here," she said in reference to Charles, who hadn't even stirred since she started yelling at them to wake up. "Charles? Charles! Wake up!" Instead of waking up, he merely turned his head to the other side. "Bloody sound sleeper!" She started shaking him and shouting, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" (As you can imagine, this woke Charles up right away.)

"What! What? What?" Charles asked waking up; confused. Dakota stopped shaking him. "What the bloody hell was that all about?" Charles asked, "I was trying to sleep." Dakota gave him a 'no freaking kidding' look. "You didn't have to give me a heart attack, like that. Couldn't you wake me up like a civilized person?"

She glared at him, "If I woke you up like a 'civilized person', you'd be asleep for a month!"

"Well, I'm sorry. I'm a sound sleeper! There's nothing I can do about."

"You're _too_ sound of a sleeper! You could be sleeping next to a passing _train_ , and not wake up!"

He scoffed, "Yeah, right."

"Don't 'yeah, right' me! You know, I'm amazed you even heard Raven breaking into our house all that time ago!"

Darwin and Erik sat there watching the whole scene unfold in front of them. "Man," Darwin chuckled. Erik looked over at him. "I would not want to deal with her on a regular basis." Dakota glared at him. (Not just any glare, one of those death glares.) His smile quickly disappeared.

"Shut up."

Darwin glanced at Erik, "Is she always like this?"

"Yeah, but you get used to her after a while." Dakota turned back to Charles.

"There is an abandoned gas station seventeen miles away from here. There is a working payphone there, we can call for help."

"W-wait. How do you know there's a payphone there, let alone a gas station?" Charles asked looking perplexed.

"I saw it."

"Where did you-"

"I just saw it, okay! Don't ask dumb questions." She got out of the car and started walking along the side of the road. The three men got out of the car, as well and ran to catch up with her.

"Questioning the possibility that we could be going on a wild goose chase, looking for a payphone that may or may not be there, is not a dumb question," Erik said.

"Don't you trust me?" she said picking up the pace of her walking.

"Don't ask dumb questions," he replied sarcastically. She started speed walking; Erik ran after her. "Are you getting annoyed?" He found this amusing. "You're an intriguing woman, you know that? You don't mind telling everyone else what to do, but the second anyone else tries to you shut them out and pout."

She turned on her heels. He stopped himself from running into her. "Mr. Lensehrr-"

"Mr. Lensehrr? Why so formal?"

"I am upset with you, at the moment and I become formal with everyone I'm upset with."

"You don't call Charles, Mr. Xavier."

"I won't call him Mr. Xavier anyway. I'd call him _Professor_ Xavier."

"Oh, don't get technical with me."

"Besides, I don't get formal with my boyfriend, thank you very much."

"Why?"

Dakota shrugged, "Because he's my boyfriend. I can't talk to him like I would talk to my friends. It's just an unspoken rule."

"I thought he was your best friend."

"He is…but, what I meant to say is…it's just different because we are…"

Erik was smiling at Dakota's eagerness to try and correct her contradiction. Dakota closed her mouth, before she could say one more word, and continued walking ahead of him.

"What's wrong now?" he asked with mock sympathy.

"Nothing, Mr. Lensehrr. Now mind your own damn business."

Erik smiled to himself. He liked teasing her like that; it was fun. Not to mention funny. She'd be mad for a while but soon she'd be back to her normal, sarcastic, 'dear heart' self.

She really hated him some days. (Mostly today.) She hated that cheeky stupid smirk he had when she said something that made her sound like an idiot. Or when he called her on something that made it look like she contradicted herself. Not that she didn't contradict herself every once in a while…she just didn't like being called on it. She threw her hair out of her face, again; she had started contemplating having it cut shorter. (Maybe after this whole thing was over.) She also didn't like that Erik always had to question every move and decision she made. He was just like Charles. No wonder they became fast friends; they thought so much alike. Then again she was so much like Charles herself. And like Erik.

Seventeen miles later they came across an abandoned gas station; no surprise there. And there was a working payphone outside of the building. Dakota got out a quarter, and ran to put it in the phone. "Okay, we're gonna call road side assistance, right?" Darwin asked. Dakota turned on him.

"No, I'm going to call Papa John's Pizza. Pepperoni all okay, with you?" she asked looking between the three men.

"Dakota," Charles said firmly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She pressed for the operator, and got the road side assistance number.

Darwin cleared his throat and walked closer to Erik. "What's Papa John's Pizza?" Erik looked at the younger man and shrugged his shoulders.

Dakota shook her head as she put in the quarter and dialed the phone. She held the receiver to her ear, mumbling, "Why I ever left the 90s, to live in the freakin' 60s, I'll never know."

The phone rang two times before someone answered it.

"Hi, is this road side assistance? It is? Okay, good. Our car broke down and we have been out here for a really long time, so if there is anything you can do." She nodded, "We're outside of Richmond. Okay," she held her hand over the receiver. "What route number are we on?"

Everyone turned to Darwin. "Ahhh…Route 77. I definitely remember we are Route 77."

"Okay, Route 77," Dakota told the road side assistant. "Alright," she looked at Darwin, "there is _no_ Route 77."

"Well, I don't know. I wasn't paying attention, to the route numbers!"

"And you're the driver," Erik said. Darwin glared at him.

"Okay, Route 38 or Route 59. Those are the only two routes in our area," Dakota told the others. "You have to pick one."

"38," Charles said with confidence. But then his confidence, faded. "Or maybe it was 59. I'm not sure, I'm sorry." Dakota went back to talking to the assistant guy.

"Yeah, okay. We're not sure what route we are on. So…? Could you maybe, just send someone to look up and down Route 38, and Route 59?" Dakota huffed, "Yeah, you don't do that. Fine. You know, for road side assistance you don't really assist people! Don't get snarky with me mister!"

"Will, you give me the phone!" Erik said taking the phone out of her hands. He held the receiver to his ear. Dakota stood by Charles and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Apparently, he's going to solve everything."

"Look, Dakota. Maybe if you just calm down," Charles said.

"I am _calm_!" she yelled, at bit louder then she intended. Charles held up his hands, like he would if he was backing away from a wild animal. "Sorry," Dakota mumbled. Charles sighed and rubbed his head.

Erik talked to the assistant guy some more. Charles asked Darwin if he knew where they actually where they were. He didn't know, but he talked about the car again. He told them he just got it checked a week ago and he didn't understand what could be wrong. Then something dawned on Dakota.

"Was the coolant level low?"

Darwin froze, "Um, the coolant level? That's in the radiator, right?" Dakota shook her quickly. "Um, I'm not sure. Maybe." Dakota rolled her eyes and sighed. "I don't know that much about cars, honestly. I mean once I had to change a tire and-"

"Never mind about that! I'll go check the coolant levels!" Then she was a blur. Then she was gone. Darwin jumped back.

"Where'd she go?"

"She's 'fast'," Charles said with a bit of pride in his voice.

She reached the taxi, and threw open the hood. She scanned the engine parts and found the radiator. Sure enough the coolant level was low. _'How could they not have known to check this? This isn't rocket science!'_

' _Dakota be nice.'_

' _Charles! Don't do that, you gave me a fright.'_ She looked in the taxi for coolant to add to the radiator; she didn't find any. _'Nothing can be easy.'_ She ran back to the gas station. She looked through the tainted windows of the station and saw some bottles with blue liquid.

"I'm pretty sure the doors are locked," Darwin commented. That didn't stop Dakota. She found a rock the size of her hand and used that to break the window. She climbed through the window.

"Dakota! That is destruction of private property," Charles yelled at her.

"Oh, yeah? Sue me." She got a bottle of the coolant and climbed back out of the window. Then she was gone, again. She took off the radiator cap and poured all the coolant in. She checked the level again and made sure everything else was okay. It was.

' _Alright, I'll be there in two minutes.'_ She got in the driver's seat, started the car, and pressed her foot to the gas pedal. She sped to the gas station and made it there in good time. Erik had gotten off of the phone, and the three men were waiting for her. She flew around the corner and screeched to a stop beside them. She rolled the passenger's window down and said, "Get in dear hearts, before something else goes wrong." They did; Darwin sat with Dakota and Charles and Erik got in the back. She took off on the road, "Alright, back in business. Penitentiary with a mutant guy in it, here we come!"

* * *

"What the hell does the government want with a guy like Alex Summers?" the warden asked Charles, Erik, and Dakota. The trio didn't answer; they wanted to be as vague as possible. "I hope you're not planning on putting him with others," he continued, walking by the enclosed cells. He stopped in front of one cell in particular, and turned around to face them. "First guy I've met, who actually prefers solitary confinement." He raised his eyebrows at this and opened the cell in question that held Alex Summers.

Alex looked up as his cell was opened. He saw the warden and the guards that always seemed to follow him around. There were also three people, Alex had never seen before. A tall serious looking guy, another guy who was shorter than the tall guy, and a lady who had two different colored eyes. The warden told the guards to escort him to a private room, where he and the three people could talk. The 'private room' was basically an old interrogation room. Alex sat behind an old looking metal table. Once the guards and the warden left the lady said, "Jeez, I thought they would never leave." She sat across from him and crossed her legs. Alex looked at her than at the two guys.

"Look I don't know who you guys are-"

"All in good time, dear heart. We just want to have a little chat," the lady answered. The shorter man sat down next to her. He folded his hands.

"Alex, my name is Charles Xavier. This is Dakota Patience," he said with a nod to the lady. She smirked at Alex. "And this is Erik Lensherr," he motioned to the tall guy. "We are here to ask you if you want to join us, in helping other people."

Alex looked at the guy like he was crazy; because what man in their right mind would want _him_ helping people? Alex coughed, "Look I don't know what you think you know about me but I'm not the kind of guy who helps people." Dakota chuckled.

"But you are Alex. Or, well, used to be. But your powers came and you got arrested and that kind of put a damper on things." Alex froze; his eyes widen ever so slightly.

' _How could they know about that? The warden and his cronies don't know. Hell that stupid judge and those jurors didn't even know. And they're the ones who put me here.'_

' _Alex.'_ Alex jumped and stared wide-eyed at Charles. _'We know everything about you.'_ Alex was amazed. The guy was talking in his head! Charles smiled, _'Did you honestly think you were the only one who was different?'_ Yes. Alex had never come across anyone who had any sort of 'powers'.

"We're just like you," Dakota said, stealing Alex's stare from Charles to her. He scoffed a bit at that comment.

"Really? I doubt that."

"Well, maybe we don't have your _exact_ power, but we got our own gifts," Dakota said. Alex looked at her, than Charles, than at Erik; who still hadn't said one word; with curiosity. Dakota smirked, again.

"For example, I can sense people like us; amongst other things. Charles is a mind-reader. And Erik, here can, well…" she looked behind her at Erik. "Why don't you show him?" Erik's expression changed to something that looked amused. He motioned his hand upwards. Alex sat there, unimpressed, until the table he was sitting behind began to slowly rise up in the air. Alex scooted back in his chair and looked at the floating table in front of him. Alex looked at Erik. Erik smirked a little and lowered the table back to where it was.

"He can control metal," Dakota concluded. Alex nodded.

"You can put the past behind you Alex. You can be part of something much bigger than yourself. You can help others," Charles said. Alex glanced at the table. It sounded like he was needed but it also sounded too good to be true. (And in his experience it usually was.)

"What do I get out of it?" he finally asked. Erik was quick to answer.

"Your entire record gets wiped clean." Alex's head snapped back up to him. "You can thank Agent MacTaggert when we get back to the base." Needless to say Alex agreed to go with them.

They all got back to the hotel in Richmond. But after a night of sleeping in a car; and a jail cell for a few months; they all agreed to not go out the next day looking for mutants.

* * *

Week 1, Day 5:

(Besides sleeping, relaxing, and Dakota singing a song called 'Edge of Seventeen' nothing much happened that day.)

* * *

Week 1, Day 6:

"Guido Carosella. He's…well a strong guy," Dakota told Alex. The group of mutants were out bright and early the next day; they were going to make up for lost time. And according to Dakota there first candidate for the day was in a bar in downtown Richmond.

"It's eight o'clock in the morning!" Darwin exclaimed. "Who would start drinking in eight o'clock in the morning?"

"You're missing the point that _we_ are up at eight o'clock in the morning, when we still could be sleeping for another hour," Alex complained. (Alex, Dakota, and Erik were sitting in the back.)

"Talk about teens with attitude problems. You know, dear heart, for a guy who just got out of jail AND got their record wiped clean, you are ridiculously moody. I mean, lighten up!" Alex turned and glared at Dakota. She returned the glare. Erik sat between them, enjoying the 'glare wars'.

Darwin drove until he reached the bar called BB's Bar. He parked the taxi alongside the curb. "I think I'll let you guys go in and do what you do," Darwin said, then took out a newspaper; seamlessly out of nowhere; and started reading it. Alex slouched down in his seat and had a look that said, 'I'm not going and if you ask me to go in I will bite your head off.' So, Charles, Erik, and Dakota got out of the car.

"So, what exactly are Guido's powers?" Erik asked, walking up behind Charles and Dakota.

"He has super strength and the ability to absorb kinetic energy," Dakota quickly said before Charles could even open his mouth.

"Kinetic energy?" Erik asked.

"Everything that moves creates energy. Mr. Carosella can take in that energy for a short period of time," Charles explained. Erik still looked like he wasn't getting it. Charles sighed, "If he were to be hit by a car he would absorb all of the kinetic energy the car had, and transfer that energy into his own body making him stronger than usual. For a few seconds anyways."

"So, basically he would do more damage to the car, than the car would do to him," Dakota quipped. They were a few feet from the entrance when Charles stopped.

"You know, I think I'll let you two talk to him." Erik and Dakota both turned. "I'll, um wait out here for you." Dakota came over.

"Why, what's wrong?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Dakota gave him a 'Don't lie to me' look. "Alright, nothing really. I just don't know what's with me lately. I've been having these headaches." Charles rubbed his left temple. Dakota looked concerned.

"Are your mental barriers down?" she whispered.

"No," he shook his head, "It's not that kind of headache. I don't really know why I've been having them."

"I can make them go away in two seconds flat," she raised her hands to his head, but he took her hands in his. He led her hands back down at her sides.

"That's alright. You two," he motioned to Erik, "just go in and I'll wait here." Dakota still looked concerned; Charles smiled. "Stop worrying." He brought her close to him and kissed her forehead. "Now go." Dakota looked hesitant, but started walking to BB's. Erik looked confused.

"What was that all about?" he asked running to catch up with her.

"Oh, nothing. He just has a headache," Dakota answered, not slowing down, nor looking up at Erik.

"Is he-?"

"He'll be fine." She entered the bar, followed by Erik. The bar looked run-down and broken apart. (Dakota guessed BB's had had one too many bar fights over the years.) The two sat at the bar.

"What can I get you two?" asked a bartender; who was in desperate need of a shave and a shower.

"A brandy for me," Erik said. The bartender nodded.

"And for the lady?" Dakota wasn't paying attention. The bartender cleared his throat. Dakota turned.

"Oh, ha," she laughed and shrugged it off. "I'll just have water." The bartender raised an eyebrow at her.

"A brandy and a glass of water," he repeated and walked away. Dakota crossed her arms and shook her head back to get the hair out of her face. Erik was staring at her.

"What?" she asked annoyed.

Erik chuckled, "Nothing." She gave him a piercing glance and looked back at the bar. "You seem tense. Maybe you should have a drink. Relax your nerves," Erik said.

"I don't drink."

"Then what do you do to relax your nerves?"

Dakota sighed, "Once upon a time, I used to smoke a few cigarettes."

"Why don't you smoke now?"

"Charles was never a fan of the smell the smoke had. And he said it was not healthy for me, so I stopped."

"Charles always gets his way, doesn't he?" Erik said softly.

"Excuse me?" Dakota said, looking at him. The bartender set a new shiny glass full of brown liquid in front of Erik and a dull chipped glass of water in front of Dakota. She took in her glass, than Erik's. She looked at the bartender with a raised eyebrow.

"You get nice glasses when you order something appropriate for a bar. Not just water," he said and walked away.

"Yeah, well I hope you know you're not getting a tip!" she yelled at him. Erik shook his head and took a sip of his drink. Dakota glance at him, "Look, let's just find this Guido guy and then get out of here, without me having to explain my relationship with Charles to you, okay? And I am not tense, dear heart."

"Sure." He chuckled.

"I just had that stupid dream again."

At that moment they both heard a man yell in an Italian accent, "Hey BB! Where's my Montgomery? I don't have all day." They both turned and saw a huge man sitting alone at a table a few feet behind them. He had a large muscular torso. He had on, what could only be described as bottle cap glasses. He was bald except for a clump of white hair on the top of his head; that was spiked upwards. This was Guido Carosella.

Erik turned to Dakota, "You and Charles want _him_ for the team?" She glared at him and turned back, so she was facing the bar again.

"BB! Come on, man. You know I come here for the Italian liquor, but this is not the only place I could go."

"Alright, wise guy, here's your damned drink," the bartender said (he was apparently BB).

"No. Wise Guy is my genius brother. I'm Strong Guy," he pointed his thumb into his chest, took the drink, and gulped it all down in one go.

"Hey BB! You wouldn't happen to have any Toscano cigars lying around, would you?" Dakota asked loud enough to be heard by BB and by Guido. Erik looked at her like she was crazy.

"Toscano?" Guido asked with interest. "Italian cigars? You like them?"

"They're the best."

Guido laughed, "Who knew the British would have such good taste." Dakota smirked and turned around to face him.

"We British are full of surprises. You live here in Richmond?"

"No. I live in a little town in New Jersey. But I travel places. What about you?"

"Me? Currently, I am staying in Virginia; just not Richmond. In fact me and my friend," she glanced at Erik, "were planning on asking you if-"

"Is he British, too?" Guido interrupted.

"No. He's German. Now, like I was saying-"

"Are you actually from Germany or you just German?"

"I was born in Germany, yes," Erik said.

"You don't sound German. You Jewish?" Dakota's eyes widened. She turned towards Erik. "Pretty sick what happened to them, but _some people_ have what's coming, I guess. I mean they might not be the smartest people in the world…" Erik clenched his hands into fists. He was clenching them so hard that his nails were starting to draw some blood from his palms. "…I don't agree on killing all of them. Maybe they should live in their own colony, or something." Dakota could feel Erik's rage building at an alarming rate. (The silverware in the drawers way back in the kitchen were shaking.) "I guess you just have to meet _one_ first before you know how to _handle_ them."

' _That's it!'_

' _Erik, wait!'_ She was too late. Erik ran over and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. He pushed BB over in the process. "Don't you ever talk about what happened, like it didn't matter! Like it was a tragic incident that nobody cares about!"

"Ah, jeez man, I didn't mean to-"

"We came all this way to ask you if you wanted to come and join our team, but you know what? We do not need some dumb, uneducated, fat, idiot slowing us down! So forget it!" Erik pushed the larger man away from him as he let go of his collar. He glared at Guido and turned back to the bar.

Dakota stared wide-eyed at Erik. Erik thought that maybe his outburst had scared her, but in reality she was just worried about him. He grabbed some money and threw it on the bar.

"What did you call me?" Guido asked. Erik spared another glare at him then turned to Dakota.

"We'll just tell Charles this _one_ didn't work out."

"What did you call me?" Guido repeated sounding louder and angrier. Erik rolled his eyes, turned back towards him, and was about to say something he probably shouldn't but stopped. Guido rose from his chair; at full height he was about 7 feet tall. Dakota and Erik shrunk away from the huge man (neither had realized how big he really was).

"What did you call me?!"

Dakota leaned close to Erik, "You had to insult the strong guy."

"He insulted me first! Not to mention you!"

"He never insulted me!"

"Yes he did!"

While the two of them bickered, Guido picked up the table he had been sitting at and chucked it at them.

"Get down!" Erik yelled.

"Wha-?" Erik through himself on Dakota; to push her and himself on the ground; just as the table sped past them. He sat up on the floor and grabbed Dakota. She seemed slightly shaken up. Everyone in the bar was yelling and running for the door.

"Time to go," Erik said.

"You think?!" Dakota yelled over the noise. Erik helped her up, and the two ran for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Guido yelled and he ran after them.

The two made it out of the bar and ran towards Charles. "Hey, what's going-?"

"No time to answer questions, dear heart! Just move!" Dakota said running past him. Erik ran past him too and grabbed his arm; dragging Charles until he was running too.

"Mind telling me who we're running from!"

"Um, it's…a long…story," Erik said between breathes.

"Get back here!" Guido screamed. Charles dared to look behind him, and saw him.

"Isn't that-?"

"Yeah."

"He's the one who's-?"

"Yeah."

"Why is he-?"

"Because he insulted me then I insulted him and then he threw a table at us." Charles gave his friend an odd look. "Just don't question it." Dakota made it to the car first. She threw open the passenger seat door and got in next to Darwin.

"Turn on the car."

"Hmm…?" he asked looking away from his paper. "Did you get the guy to come with us?"

"No! We didn't get the guy to come with us! Now get rid of this stupid paper!" She tore the paper from his hands and balled it up in to a crinkled up paper ball. "And start the freakin' car!" Darwin stared at her for half a second then did what she asked. Two seconds later Erik and Charles came running and climbed into the back seat. Alex looked at the two of them confused.

"Drive the car, please," Charles said catching his breath.

"What's going on?" Alex asked.

"We'll explain later right now-"

"Where are you?!" Everyone looked out the windshield. Guido was a few blocks away, looking for Dakota and Erik. He turned his head looking everywhere, until he spotted the taxi. He scowled at them. Then he picked up a nearby car and threw it at them as if it was a baseball. Darwin quickly put the taxi into gear and swung the car onto the road and out of the way of falling car.

"Jesus! He's angry isn't he?" Alex shouted as they watched the car hit the place they were sitting only a moment ago. Darwin took one glance at the crushed car and sped away.

"Next time you come in here yelling at me to do something," Darwin said to Dakota, "make sure I know giant dudes who can throw cars are after you so, I will react faster."

"What did you do?" Alex asked Dakota. She turned around so she could glare at him.

"I didn't do anything, thank you very much!" she yelled, her voice going an octave higher. She pointed at Erik "He's the one who caused Guido to freak out!"

"Oh, well I just assumed-"

"Yeah, you assumed! Why does everyone always assume _I_ am to blame when something goes wrong?"

"Because you're a hot head," Alex said a bit too matter of factly. Erik raised an eyebrow; he had to admire the kid's guts.

"I'm gonna take his attitude and shove it down his throat!" Dakota climbed into the backseat, with every in-tension of doing violent things to Alex that ladies should not do.

Erik sat back and watched the scene play out: Dakota climbed into the back, she made more idol threats, Alex said sorry ten times, he got as far away from her as possible, Charles stopped Dakota by grabbing onto her waist and pulling her down next to him and Erik, he told her to calm down, she yelled at him that she was calm; even though it was obvious she wasn't.

After a few awkward seconds, Darwin said, "I think that strong guy didn't follow us." He looked out his rear view mirror; no one was following them. Charles held two fingers to his head.

"No he was stopped by the bartender. He went back to the bar. He shouldn't be coming after us anytime soon." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; except for Dakota who was still fuming. She glared at Alex, he smirked a bit. She pointed two fingers at her eyes than she pointed one finger at him. (The old 'I've got my eyes on you' thing.)

A few blocks later they stopped at another bar, Richmond's Grand Bar. This one seemed nicer, and had more people in it. "Alright, so who's coming in this time?" Charles asked everyone in the car. Darwin elected himself to stay and watch the car, Alex got out of the back and sat in the front, Dakota wasn't speaking to anyone. Erik said he'll come with Charles, so the two got out and went to the bar.

"So who's this guy? He isn't strong enough to throw a car at us, is he? Because I think there's a law of how many times a car can be thrown at a person," Erik joked.

Charles laughed, "No my friend, he is not that strong. He has a healing factor."

"What does that mean?"

"He heals really, really quickly." Erik reached the entrance first and opened the door for Charles. He walked over to a man sitting at a bar, Erik followed.

' _That him?'_

' _Yep.'_

 _Him_ was a gruff looking man who was drinking a beer and smoking a cigar. "Excuse me, I'm Erik Lensherr."

"Charles Xavier."

"Go fuck yourself," the man said without a second thought. Charles and Erik shared a look and walked out of the bar.

"Well, that was easy," Erik commented.

* * *

Dakota decided to go in with the Charles and Erik and talk to the next and finale mutant they were looking for in Richmond. Irene Adler, a 19 year old girl who had precognitive powers. (She could see the possible outcomes of many futures and focus on events before they happen.) Irene was at home with her parents; and explaining to them that they just wanted to talk to their daughter gave Dakota a headache. Her parents told them Irene was in the basement, so the trio went down there to talk to her.

As they walked down the stairs to the basement the air thickened around them. It was like it was trying to suffocate them. They reached the basement, there were candles lit everywhere. They were the only source of light. And books! There were so many books scattered all over the floor, on the tables, in the book cases. There were also were flowers everywhere. They all were drooping down and gave the basement not a bright and cheery feel but, a dark and ominous feel. There were also things that you would see in a fortune telling booth: moon stones, playing cards, purple drapes, and a crystal ball.

The girl, Irene, was in the corner of the basement fixing the flowers to stand up. Erik took another look around the basement and then whispered, "Yeah, I'm going to wait in the car." Charles stopped him.

"If he doesn't want to stay, you should let him go," Irene said from the corner. The trio turned. Irene stopped fixing the flowers and walked towards them. (She held out her hands as she walked. Erik hadn't realized that Irene was blind.) She made it to the table in the middle of the room; she pulled the chair out and sat down. "I've been waiting for you," she motioned to the three of them and then to the three chairs that sat opposite of her. The three glanced at each other then sat down in the chairs.

Irene was a pretty girl, her hair was bleached blond and her skin had a pink tone to it; a perfect contrast. And her eyes were something that drew your attention in; they were blue, but had the look that they were frosted over. She smiled; she reached for the fortune telling cards and started shuffling the deck. "I'm afraid I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request," she said.

"You're…what?"

Irene's lips twitched upwards, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no. To joining the CIA. Not that I don't want to, or I don't want to help you. I just have other matters at hand and I will be needed other places. Besides, I will only get in the way." Charles blinked, Erik just stared, and Dakota cleared her throat.

"So, we can leave the creepy basement now?" she asked Charles, not caring how rude she sounded. Charles gave her a warning glance. Irene laughed.

"Miss Patience, I knew I would enjoy meeting you." Dakota looked at Irene with something that could be read as amusement.

"You enjoyed meeting me? That's a first."

"You're important to what happens in the future. You, these two, and Raven." Dakota's amused look vanished.

"How do you know Rav-?"

"I started having visions when I was 13. My vision was only impaired then. I wrote down my visions down in thirteen books, they have the possible futures of the world for the next seventy years. This day I've been preparing for, for over a year." She finished shuffling the cards and passed each of them three cards. "I know everybody who was ever in my visions. Raven and you three happened to be in a few of them." She set the remaining cards off to the side of the table. "You know, most fortune tellers are fakes. And the cards are just part of a con. But I find them to be quite useful in my own ways."

She flipped over the top card in front of Dakota, Charles, and Erik. They all were the six of hearts. "Pain," she said. "Loss, and devastation. You all have either experienced it or you will." She flipped up the next cards; they were all the seven of spades. "You all have hope somewhere in you." She then flipped the last cards in front of them. In front of both Charles and Erik was the king of clubs. In front of Dakota was the queen of diamonds.

"And what do these mean?" Erik asked, almost mockingly.

Irene looked at Charles and Erik, "You are both leaders, fighting for the same cause. Your views are different but similar. You are brothers by bond, which is hard to come by these days." She looked them in the eyes, and Charles had to remind himself that the girl was blind. "And as for you," she looked at Dakota. "You were a loner, you always were, but you found yourself in a situation with so many people caring you don't know what to do."

"I have never been a loner," Dakota said with defiance. Irene was starting to get to her.

"Maybe not in your definition. But you never really got close to anyone. You're getting close to people now," she pointedly looked at Charles and Erik. She was quiet for a while; let it sink in she thought. "You can time travel?" she asked Dakota.

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth.

Irene pondered for a moment, "I couldn't have that talent and not see what my future was. I would wonder about it and have to see what happens."

"Well, dear heart, that's the thing about my mutation, you have to be disciplined. If I wasn't I would be going into the future seeing how things turned out, but you know why I don't?" Irene shook her head; Charles and Erik looked at her questioningly. "Because changing the past to make your own future better, at the risk that changing it could make it worse for everyone else, is selfish."

Irene smiled. Charles looked down at his cards in front of him; Erik glanced at Dakota again. Dakota got up, "I think I'll be going."

She was just to the stairs when Irene said, "Don't you want to know about your dream?" Dakota stopped and looked over her shoulder at her. "It's a premonition, you're coming into a new power." Charles and Erik looked at each other than at Dakota. She walked to Irene.

"So, what I'm like you? I have precognitive visions?"

Irene laughed, "No my dear girl, you have a sixth sense." (It was strange to hear Irene call Dakota 'girl'; Dakota was older.) "You just know things. Haven't you ever been somewhere and seen something or known something you would have no way of knowing?" Dakota felt a bit cold as the realization of Irene's words hit her. She thought back to her dream, but also to when she saw the abandoned gas station. She never really questioned it; she just knew she saw it and that was that. The two men stared at Dakota as her expression dropped. "Your sixth sense will become more frequent over time."

"And how do you know that? Your thirteen _books of truth_?" Dakota questioned.

"You needn't be so angry, Miss Patience. If the future goes one way, we will never see each other again. And if it goes the other way, you will be happy to see me. Whichever way it goes I will accept my _destiny_." Dakota rolled her eyes and stormed out of the basement. Charles and Erik sat there for a second before getting up themselves.

"Well, ah, thank you Miss Alder for your time," Charles said awkwardly. Erik glanced at his friend and then went up upstairs. Charles was about to head up himself when Irene grabbed his wrist.

"Professor." He stopped and looked at the girl. "You have such faith in people, even when they are lying to you or hiding something from you. Don't become oblivious to the stages of betrayal. You don't want to be the one who gets walked all over."

Charles blinked a few times, "I won't be." That was all he could think to say; than he left the blind girl in her basement. She sat back in her chair.

"I knew that was how they would react."

Alex and Darwin were having a lovely conversation about sports and the best ways to make sure they didn't upset Dakota, when Dakota came and got in the back seat. She sat with her arms crossed and she threw the hair out of her face. The two looked at her then at each other. A second later Erik came, then Charles. They all were in the taxi, and they all were really quiet. "Okay, then," Darwin said turning back around to face the steering wheel. Alex slouched down in his seat and mouthed, 'It must've gone sour in there.' Darwin nodded, agreeing. They all were quiet for a while, until Dakota started singing a song called 'Uma Thurman'. Alex asked when that song was released, and Dakota replied 2015. He gave her an odd look. She laughed. Whatever tension that was between them before seemed to be gone for now.

* * *

Week 1, Day 7:

They drove back to Abingdon to get the black CIA car. Charles and Erik drove in that, while Dakota, Darwin, and Alex drove in the taxi. The three had fun talking and making fun of other drivers. Erik got to enjoy only having to drive for one hour, back to the base. Charles was falling asleep in the car; Erik knew this because every time he looked over at him, he had his eyes closed but his head would jerk up like he was waking up. Once he did that and finally opened his eyes. He rubbed his head.

"Look why don't you just rest, we're still a half hour away," Erik said after seeing this.

"Trying to," Charles answered softly. He rubbed his head with both hands and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just have this splitting headache."

"Dakota said you had a headache yesterday."

"It's gotten worse." Charles leaned back in his seat, still rubbing his head, still having his eyes closed. Erik looked concern.

"How long have you been having them?"

"Ever since we left the base, they've steadily gotten worse."

"And you didn't tell us, until yesterday and today?"

"I didn't want you or Dakota worrying over me."

"It's Hank's machine. You practically fainted after being hooked up to the thing for little over an hour."

"I did not faint! I just fell down. And maybe this is a side effect from using Cerebro, but I doubt it's anything serious. Besides I going to use Cerebro as soon as we get back anyway. I-"

"You're using it again! It is obviously the thing hurting you Charles and you're going to use it again? You're not going to use Cerebro again. Simple as that."

"Erik." Erik looked at his friend, and saw him staring at him. He was still rubbing his head but only with hand this time. "Stop treating me like a child. I will make my own decisions." Erik sighed and looked back at the road, annoyed.

Neither of them had touched on the matter that Irene had brought up the day before.

Charles had felt like the two of them were friends, probably his closest friend since Raven and Dakota. He knew they were similar in their thinking and they had some lovely conversations but he had never seen him as a brother. Erik was a bit controlling, then again he could be too. Charles took his hand away from his head and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He had always wanted a brother. He was born an only child and Raven was his adopted sister. He liked that the man cared about him; he didn't like being treated like a child but it was the thought that counted. They had hit off so fast, and they were becoming best friends; they probably were like brothers.

Erik didn't understand why the man had to be so stubborn! And stupid! It was obvious Cerebro was the cause of his headaches, so what does he say? He says he going to spend more time in the damned machine! Not to mention he didn't bother telling him or Dakota. He could understand Charles not telling him, but he was shocked that he didn't tell Dakota until yesterday. Erik brushed his hand through his hair. He hating feeling worried and he knew he only ever worried over people who he really cared about. That begged the question of was Irene right in saying they were like brothers? Erik knew she was probably right, but he didn't want her to be right. Caring about someone just set him up for loss in the end. He didn't want to lose Charles. Or Dakota.

They reached the base in the mid afternoon. Darwin parked the taxi; Erik parked the CIA car next to him. Darwin, Dakota, and Alex got out of the car laughing about something. "I mean I don't know what I'm going to do," Darwin laughed.

Alex shrugged, "Maybe you should ask this Agent MacTaggert to call your boss." Dakota shook her head and went to where Charles and Erik had gotten out of their car. She smiled at them. "What are they carrying on about?" Erik asked walking around the car. Dakota stood next to Charles and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Ah, nothing. Darwin just realized that he did not call his boss and tell him he was _borrowing_ his taxi. Now he is worried he will get fired when he goes back to work."

Charles held her hand that was on his shoulder, "I'm sure we can figure something out." He smiled at Dakota, who returned the smile. Erik tried very hard not to glare at them.

The group walked into the base; they were immediately stopped by the agent. "Oh good you're back. We were starting to wonder." He looked at Alex and Darwin. "These must be some of the new recruits. Welcome to my facility." The agent was happy to see more mutants and once again asked them a million questions about their powers. Alex seemed annoyed with all of the questions; Darwin seemed happy that someone took an interest in his powers. The group and the agent walked to a room near one of the courtyards. It was a rec room; it had a wet bar, some tables, some chairs, two small couches, a fish tank, and a pinball machine. Raven, Hank, and Angel were playing a _serious_ game of Go Fish. Moira was sitting by the bar sipping a drink of some kind.

"Talk about a great looking rec room." Raven looked up, and smiled. "We didn't have this at Oxford. And that's really surprising because, well, they're Oxford." Raven set her cards down and got up.

"You're back. How long this time."

"Maybe a day," Charles answered.

"Oh yeah, guys," Dakota said to Alex and Darwin. "This is Charles' and my sister, Raven." Raven nodded to the two of them.

"Wait. You two have the same sister?" Alex said with a confused look.

"Yeah. Well, I mean, we all grew up together. We're not actually related," Dakota said. Alex nodded; now understanding.

"Okay, I was about to say," he looked at Charles then at Dakota. "Something weird is going on here." He walked past Dakota and Raven and went straight to the pinball machine. Dakota took a deep breath in, and hesitated before releasing it. "I don't like him at all," she said, turning to Raven. Raven smiled.

"Anyways, this is Darwin." Dakota pointed to him; Raven and him shook hands. "And ah, he's Alex." She pointed at the teen; who was preoccupied by the pinball machine.

"Well, so far I like joining the CIA," Darwin said walking around the room.

"Yeah, it's got its perks, don't it?" Angel said with a bit of charm in her voice.

He turned to look at her and paused to stare at her beautiful brown eyes, "Yes it does. I didn't catch your name." He took her hand.

"Angel Salvadore." They shook hands, but didn't stop holding hands until Dakota cleared her throat.

"The shy boy with the glasses is Hank McCoy." Hank and Darwin said their hellos.

"Alex," Erik said trying to get his attention. Alex was too caught up with the pinball machine. "Alex. Alex." Erik sighed.

"Hey! Earth to Alex!" Dakota yelled; Alex turned. Dakota gave Erik a 'continue on, dear heart' look.

"This is Agent Moira MacTaggert," he said motioning to Moira.

"Oh yeah, the CIA chick who got my record wiped. Thanks." He winked at Moira, who in turn smiled uncomfortably. Alex turned to Hank and looked him over. "What's your mutation? Being the dork of the group?" Hank looked offended and was about to say something when Dakota interrupted.

"Ignore him; heaven knows I have." She looked at Raven, "He is the most annoying eighteen year old in the history of history." Raven darted her eyes to Alex then back to Dakota. "He can hear me can't he?" Dakota asked, not looking over at Alex.

"Yeah, he can," Alex said, annoyed. Dakota turned and gave him an awkward smile. Everyone in the room laughed quietly.

* * *

Raven, Hank, and Angel finished their game. Moira finished her drink and then went to talk with the agent. Alex and Darwin started a pinball competition. Erik went to bed. Charles and Dakota got ready for bed.

Dakota lay in bed humming 'Xscape.' She thought of the things that had happened over the last week. She knew they still had another week to go. She kind of wanted to just stay and rest a few days; she hated driving all that way. It was just a waste a time; she could get them to all their destinations in half the time. She also thought about the ridiculous men she was surrounded by; namely Charles and Erik. She knew Charles had a headache and that Erik liked her. (They didn't understand that the connection meant she felt _all_ of their emotions and feeling.)

Oh well, if they wanted to feel like they could hide stuff from her that was fine. It didn't bother her anyways; they could never really hide anything from her anyways. She would always know what they were thinking. In a way it was a burden, but in a way it was nice.

She would never be alone. She would always have Charles by her side. And Erik.

* * *

 **TGCFID: Thank God Chapter Five Is Done! That's all I have to say. Okay, I have to say a few more things…**

 **Songs: I referenced five songs in this chapter. They all are songs, that in the 60s, would be from the future. Dakota is a time traveler, who loves her music. She has like 25 cassette tapes with music from different times.**

 **Bad Blood by Taylor Swift**

 **What You Waiting For? By Gwen Stefani**

 **Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks**

 **Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boys**

 **Xscape by Michael Jackson**

 **Also, tell me if I am making any of the characters (besides Dakota) too oc or ooc or occ or anything like that. Some characters (DARWIN) I have to add to their character, because I know the movies not the comics. And some characters (DARWIN) were only in First Class for five minutes, which is not much to go on. (Tell me do you like the idea of Angel and Darwin together?)**

 **I also made reference to two mutants: Strong Guy and Destiny. I thought they would be fun to meet. If you know the comics or the Marvel Encyclopedia you will get the little references. By the way I checked, a Montgomery is an Italian drink and a Toscano is an Italian cigar. Tell me if there are any mutants you want our trio to meet; I might just write them in.**

 **And the joke about there being no Route 77, I got from an episode of** _ **Friends**_ **.**

 **Anyways, sorry about the wait; this chapter took longer than expected. (Hence why I'm breaking it into a 'two parter'.) Can you believe it's July already? (Sigh.) I'll try working on Chapter 6. As always: Reviews are extremely appreciated. Thanks. ;)**


	6. Hi, do you want to join the CIA? Part 2

Week 2, Day 1:

That morning was filled with an incident that could only be described as, interesting.

Hank was in the lab, examining Raven's blood. He was trying to take a certain section of her DNA; the section that controlled her mutation. If he could isolate that part of her DNA then he could replicate it and change it. Then it would only be a matter of time before he could get his appearance 'cure'. He had the sample on a glass plate; he turned the dial on the microscope to focus in on the sample. Finding what he had been looking for, he grinned. He lifted the plate and was heading to the other side of the lab, when…

He turned around and literally ran into Alex.

"Whaa!" Hank exclaimed and dropped the glass plate on the floor.

"Ohhh, sorry about that. I was uh, just looking around," Alex shrugged. Hank stared at the broken plate. "It wasn't anything important, right?"

Hank took a deep breath and tried to not yell at Alex, "No, not at all. Nothing I can't do over." Hank walked back to the microscope, "It's not like I spent a week trying to separate DNA, and used up all of Raven's blood trying to do so."

"What?" Alex asked, only catching part of what Hank said.

"Oh, nothing," Hank grumbled. He looked at the few remaining drops of blood that were under the microscope; they were not enough to take the section of Raven's DNA that Hank needed. He would have to ask her for another sample.

"Hey, nerd," Alex started. Hank turned away from the microscope and glared at him. "Oh, I mean…" then Alex laughed, "Ahh, why am I apologizing? We both know you're a nerd."

Hank huffed, "Is there something else you want?"

Alex shook his head. "No. Just wanted to tell you there's a big piece of glass sticking out of your foot." Alex pointed at Hank's foot. Hank glanced down and sure enough there was a piece of glass in his left foot. He hadn't even felt it. He must've been pretty upset to not notice it; he didn't have a high pain tolerance. He sat down in a nearby chair; careful not to bump his foot on anything.

He bent over to look at the damage, the glass went through his shoe and only now did he start to feel a twinge of pain. He wasn't about to pull the glass out though; he might open up a vain in his foot. (He couldn't bleed to death from that, but still it would be a bloody mess.) He was trying to figure out how to take his shoe off without removing the glass, when-

"What are you doing, nerd? Just pull it out!" Alex walked over, bent down, and grabbed the glass.

"Wait!"

* * *

"Okay, so let me see if I am understanding this," Darwin said, pacing around in the rec room. "You," he pointed to Alex, "were bored and went into the lab, where he," he pointed to Hank, "was doing some experimental thingy. And you ran into him and he ended up getting a piece of glass stuck in his foot." The two shook their heads. "And you," he pointed to Alex again, "being the genius that you are, helped him clean his wound by yanking out the glass." Alex smiled innocently (which was hard to pull off).

"Which opened up a small vain, causing Hank to bleed through his shoe," Dakota continued. "And when our tough, jail bird saw all the blood, he freaked out."

"And then he came running through the halls," Angel said dramatically. "He ran into me and Darwin. We had been up, playing cards. We were just going to bed." Dakota raised an eyebrow. Darwin looked around awkwardly. Angel, realizing what she said, stuttered, "I-I mean we were going to-to sleep in our own beds. We weren't going to sleep together, I mean-"

"Anyways," Raven said loudly, taking the attention off of Angel. "Darwin, Angel, and I helped Hank out of the lab and into the rec room."

"Right," Darwin nodded, "And then I woke Charles and Dakota up, told them what happened, and then they woke Erik up."

"Oh no," Erik said. "Erik was woken up, when Alex ran through the halls."

"And I heard the noise and came to see what was happening," Moira said, adding her two cents.

"We all wanted to know what the bloody hell happened," Dakota said, crossing her arms. "So, we spent ten minutes hearing it the first time, and we've just spent five minutes rehashing it."

"And this is why we all are up at," Erik looked at his watch, "4 AM." He glared at Alex, who in turn held up his hands in surrender.

"And my foot's still bleeding," added Hank; he sent Alex a glare too. Alex snorted at Hank's attempt at being mean looking.

"Alright, take off your shoe and your sock and let me take a better look at it," Dakota said pulling out a chair from one of the tables. She sat the chair in front of Hank, who was sitting on the couch.

"Why do you want me to-?"

"Just do what I say."

Hank took the cloth; that he had been using to clot the blood; away from his foot and unlaced his shoe strings. Dakota sat down in the chair. Hank took off his shoe and then took off his sock; he stretched his foot out revealing his hand like foot. Angel, Darwin, and Alex all stared. Then Darwin chuckled, "That's cool, man." Angel nodded in agreement. Alex just gave Hank a look.

"It's also weird." Dakota turned her head around so fast, her hair flipped up in her face.

"Will you, please stop being a nuisance?" she asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

Alex seemed to consider what she had said but then smiled and said, "No." Dakota huffed and threw her hair out of her face. She turned her attention back to Hank.

Hank was expecting Dakota to look at his foot like she said she was going to, but instead she placed her hands on his temples. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Think calm thoughts," she said, ignoring his question.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" she asked looking him straight in the eye.

Hank hesitated. "…Yes."

"Then, think calm thoughts," she repeated. Hank hesitated again; then he thought about the first time he met Raven. They had stayed up all night, just talking and getting to know one another. It had been a calming evening, compared to the stress he usually dealt with in the lab.

"That's it," Dakota mumbled. She closed her eyes in concentration, and her hands started to glow. First from the inside of her palms to the tips of her fingers till her whole hand was glowing bright pink. Everyone watched as the cut on Hank's foot closed up and seemingly fixed itself. Dakota grimaced and a few roots of her hair turned white. She opened her eyes and her hands stopped glowing. Hank blinked, than looked at his foot. His eyes widen.

"How did you-what did you-?" Hank asked dumbfounded.

Dakota laughed, "Like I always say; I'm full of surprises." She smirked and rose up from her chair. But the second she stepped on her _left_ foot she yelled, "Oww!" Charles and Erik both hurried over and reached out for her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said brushing them off. "I just forgot to heal _myself_." She held her hands to her own temples. "Think calm thoughts," she told herself, and her hands started glowing again.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot," Charles said, relaxing. Her few white strands of hair turned back to its normal golden brown color. Then she opened her eyes and walked in a small circle; her foot seemed fine now. She looked up at Charles and Erik, smiled, and left the rec room mumbling about going back to bed.

"What the hell just happened?" Alex asked the second Dakota left the room.

Charles chuckled, "Dakota has many powers; one of them being she can heal herself and others." He motioned to Hank's, now healed, foot. "Whenever she heals another, she transfers her ability to heal to them for a brief period of time. When she does this she is temporally connected to that person and _she_ ends up with the wound."

"So, basically my cut disappeared because I had her powers?" Hank clarified. Charles nodded. "And she limped at first because she had my cut?" Charles nodded again. "Wow, that's amazing."

"Yeah," Charles said with a smile. Then he yawned and said, "Well, as Erik said it's 4 AM and I think I'll be going back to bed."

The others agreed and they all left the rec room and went back to their rooms. (Hank even went to his room; and he almost always slept in the lab.)

* * *

Around 8 AM Raven decided to get up. She figured she would get a head start on the day (even though they all did thanks to what was officially being called 'Alex's Glass Screw Up'). The first thing she did was go to the kitchen. She fixed herself a light breakfast, cereal with milk. She sat down at the table; not really thinking about anything in particular. It wasn't until after eating the third spoonful that she thought back to a few months ago. To the time that Dakota had made breakfast. That had been an interesting morning: burnt eggs, burnt toast, burnt _cereal_.

Yes, Dakota managed to burn the cereal. She thought that the cereal would taste better with warm milk, so she boiled some milk which boiled over. Dakota pulled the piping hot milk on the cereal and well…

It had a really fascinating chard taste. Raven chuckled at the memory; of all the things Dakota could do, she couldn't cook for the life of her. She continued chuckling.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Alex asked walking into the kitchen.

Raven swallowed her cereal. "Oh, nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Alex smirked, "So, should I expect everyone still being upset with me or…?"

Raven rolled her eyes; the eighteen year old was bothering her. "So, you and Hank. What's that like?" Raven gave him a questioning look. "Just trying to keep the conversation moving." He grabbed an apple and walked out of the kitchen. "You know, I never asked," he yelled back to Raven as he left. "Is your mutation putting up with that nerd?" Raven rolled her eyes.

"No, my mutation is putting up with jerks, like you."

"Very funny."

* * *

The rest of the day seemed go pretty well: Alex and Darwin playing with the pinball machine, Angel and Raven talking about whatever it is that young women talk about, Darwin and Angel kept giving each other looks, Hank asked Raven to meet him by the model plane that evening (so he could take more of her blood), Moira constantly talking with the agent about any leads to where Shaw was. Erik spent most of day just trying to rest up for the next day of driving. Charles decided that he didn't need to use Cerebro until later that week; and he and Dakota didn't do anything else really that day.

But tensions started to rise that night.

They sat across from of each other, at the little table that was in their room. Charles was reading a book about the theory of mutation and Dakota was reading a tattered book that she got from the future called: _The Hunger Games._ Dakota was getting to the part where Katniss and Peeta were about to kiss and though she loved that part, she closed the book and set it on the table.

"Charles?"

"Hmm?" he said not looking away from his book.

"Charles? I just want to tell you something. I-" Charles put down his book, fully paying attention. "I…I'm connected to Erik." Charles froze. Connected? Like she was connected to…him? But he thought-he was the only person-wasn't he?

"Connected to Erik?" he said slowly. Dakota nodded. Charles softly chuckled, "For how long?"

"Since I first shook hands with him on the coast guard ship."

"Ah."

"Yeah, I guess I'm connected to two people now," she said with a humorless smile. (She was trying to shrug this off. It was not going well.) Charles looked serious.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged, "I didn't want to make a big deal about it."

"You didn't want to make a-" Charles started to laugh. It was a humorless laugh; the kind a person has when they're in disbelief. "But it is a big deal. You told me that the connection was something you only had with people you were close with."

"Well, I am close to Erik."

Charles sat back in his chair, "How close?"

"What?"

"You just said you two are close. I want to know how close."

Dakota opened her mouth but she couldn't make any words come out. Charles raised his eyebrows. "The other day when I was late getting Alex's release papers something happened, didn't it? You two seemed awfully smitten."

"Oh please! There is nothing going on between Erik and myself. We are just friends!" Dakota rose from her chair and went to the bathroom.

Charles regretted his accusation, but it bothered him. She didn't think it was a big deal? How could she not think it was a big deal?! In all of the places that she went, all the different times she visited, she had only ever been connected to Charles. Dakota didn't believe in soul mates, but Charles did, and that was the most clean cut sign that they were meant to be. But if she was connected to someone else, Erik of all people, what did that mean…for them?

Dakota came out of the bathroom, in her pjs, and went straight to the bed. She threw back the covers, climbed into bed and covered herself up. She didn't say one word to Charles; he sighed. Yep, she was mad at him.

He walked to the bed and laid down next to her. He put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, I'm sorry. Okay? I was out of line and I know that you wouldn't do anything like that behind my back." He moved closer to her, he could smell her hair. Her hair always had a musty old time smell to it. He rubbed his hand down Dakota's arm and didn't stop until he felt her waist. He closed the remaining space between them. He took a deep whiff of her hair. He put his arm around her and felt her stomach. He kissed the back of her head and was about to turn her over so he could actually kiss her when, she shook his arm off of her.

"Charles, I'm still very tired and we have a busy week ahead of us. Just go to bed, okay?" Charles sighed and got out of bed. He grabbed his shoes and sat on the edge of the bed. He angrily put them on. "Now what are you doing?" Dakota asked sitting up in bed.

"Three months. Do you realize it has been three months since the last time we've made love?"

"Yeah, call it sex, Charles."

"Fine. The point is I can only take so much of this! You make it sound like I'm asking too much from you!" He finished putting his shoes on, stood up, and turned to face her.

"You know sometimes a person is just not in the mood."

"For three months?!"

Dakota huffed, "Look can we talk about this tomorrow, or something?" Charles threw his hands up in the air and headed towards the door. "Now, where are you going?"

"It's been three months, and I haven't had anything to do at night lately, so I'm going to the gym." He opened the door and left. Dakota flopped back on the bed. Charles go to the gym? That was a first.

Charles walked down the hall, still fuming. He went by a hallway on his left and just happened to look down it and saw Erik walking down the opposite hall in the opposite direction. Erik just happened to look over at about the same time too. They made eye contact and both stopped walking.

"Where are you going?" Erik asked.

"To the kitchen, to make a cup of tea," he lied, not wanting to go into the whole thing. "Where are you going?"

"To the gym," Erik replied.

"But the gym is that way," Charles pointed in the direction that he was going.

"And the kitchen's that way," Erik pointed in the direction that he was going.

"I know," Charles said. Erik nodded his head. The two looked at each other than both of them slowly turned and went in the directions of where they supposedly wanted to go. Charles did go to the kitchen, figuring maybe a hot cup of tea would calm his nerves. Erik- who had originally just wanted to go outside and get some fresh air, but lied because he didn't want Charles worrying that he would leave- did go to the gym, figuring why the hell not?

* * *

Week 2, Day 2:

That morning Charles, Erik, and Dakota got up early to leave for their next destination, which was Washington D.C. The drive took all day, so by the time they got there it was night. They got a hotel and were going to ask the mutants in the area tomorrow. Erik had his usual dream that night; no surprise there. Dakota also had her usual dream that night; and once again was told by Charles not to worry. (Not bloody likely.)

* * *

Week 2, Day 3:

They met a mutant named Dominic Petros, who could cause earthquakes. He said no. They met a mutant named Paige Guthrie, who could shed her skin and transform her body into any form. She said no. They met a mutant named Sarah Rushman, who could rapidly grow and regrow her bones. She said no.

"What are we doing wrong?" Dakota asked as the three of them got into the black CIA car, after their most resent 'no'. Charles was driving, Erik was in the passenger seat, and Dakota was in the back seat. "Is it the way we're dressed?"

Erik groaned and rubbed his head. "Yes, Dakota. It's the way we're dressed. People don't like our clothes so much that they refuse to join the CIA." Charles laughed.

Dakota glared at Erik, then continued on, "Really think about it; we are the oddest looking group of people ever! Like ever! We have a stern, serious German who has the wardrobe of an undertaker and insists on wearing a leather jacket, which doesn't go with the depressing clothes!" Erik rolled his eyes. Charles tried to focus on driving but couldn't help but smile.

"Next we have the positive, happy-go-lucky Brit who wears anything from suit and tie, to many assorted colored sweater vests. I mean, at least he has some color to his wardrobe." Erik sighed and glanced at Charles. Dakota was right about the sweater vests; they seemed to be the only thing Charles ever wore. (Could you imagine Erik in a sweater vest?)

"And last but certainly not least, you have-"

"The sarcastic, British woman who talks too much," Erik interrupted.

"Who is obsessed with wearing laced-up boots. And wears anything from lightly colored blouses, to simple quarter-sleeve shirts," Charles continued.

"And you never wears skirts or dresses and you wear those ridiculous scarfs. You only ever wear blue, green, or blue-green shirts. I mean, what's that about? Talk about a two colored wardrobe," Erik finished.

Dakota stared at the two men in the front seat. She tilted her head back and shook the hair out of face. "Okay then," she smiled, "You two have spent way too much time with me. And did you catch that? Erik's beginning to sound more and more like me." Charles and Erik glanced at each other and chuckled.

After a minute or so of silence, Dakota asked, "Okay, we have one more mutant we can ask but it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and he's all the way across town and I'm tired of being told no, so what are we going to do?"

Charles shrugged, "We could head back to the hotel. Have an early supper. Go to bed early."

"Thank you, Mister Boring. And what would you like to do?" Dakota asked Erik.

Erik also shrugged, "I don't know."

"Have you ever been to D.C. before?"

"No."

"Well there you go! Charles has never been here either. You two could check out the sites and the memorials. It could fun!"

"Why do I have the feeling that she wants to get rid of us?" Erik asked Charles.

Charles smirked, "Dakota what do you want?"

"Nothing. I just want to check out the shopping district."

"Yep, there we go."

"I knew she was trying to get rid of us."

"Well, you two said you didn't want to go shopping with me, so I figured you guys go and do something and I can go to Macy's." Charles sighed. "Fine you go to the shopping district and we'll do…something."

"Oh, thank you," Dakota said, smiling.

Charles and Erik dropped Dakota off at Macy's and they went back to the hotel. They sat in the lobby and didn't really do anything. Charles twiddled his thumbs, Erik leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He took a deep breath and slowly let it come out. "There is nothing to do in this hotel."

"We could see the sites," Charles suggested. Erik scoffed at the idea.

"Do you have any cards?" Erik asked.

"No. I have a travel chess board, but-"

"You play chess?"

"Yeah. I used to play all the time with the other students at Oxford. Raven's not a fan and Dakota hates it but I always have chess board just in case. You play?"

"Not since I was a teenager. But it was always a game that I enjoyed."

"Hmm. You want to play?"

"Sure." Charles went to his room and got his chess board.

Within the hour, Charles and Erik had gone to the Lincoln Memorial and played 14 games of chess. They started their _15_ _th_ game of chess; the tie breaker game. (Though that was unlikely ever since the first game, where Charles won, Erik kept asking for a rematch; even when he won. He thought Charles was reading his mind, therefore he had the unfair advantage.) It was Charles' turn but he was staring off into the distance.

"Charles? Charles? Hello," Erik softly hit Charles on the arm, getting his attention.

"Hmm?" he said turning towards Erik.

"It's your turn."

"Oh, sorry. I uh, I just can't stop thinking about the others out there. All those minds that I touched. I could feel them. Their isolation, their hopes, their ambitions. I tell you, we are at the start of something incredible, Erik. We can help them."

Charles smiled and seemed to be lost in thought again. As much as he wanted to believe what Charles had just said, Erik couldn't help but feel a twinge of doubt.

"Can we? Identification, that's how it starts. And ends with being rounded up, experimented on, eliminated."

Charles sighed, "Not this time. We have common enemies. Shaw, the Russians. They need us."

"For now."

Charles sat in silence for a moment then took his turn. "You're in check." Erik glared at the chess board and shook his head.

"You have to be cheating."

Charles smiled, "What? You don't trust me?" Erik took his turn, but it was a light-hearted move. Charles glanced at the board, took his turn, than went back to thinking. Erik sighed and tried to think up a stagey to somehow manage to win. "Do you have the time?" Charles asked.

Erik glanced up from the board, "You have a watch."

"Right," Charles chuckled. He involuntarily put his hand over his left wrist where his watch was. "This watch is a few minutes slow, I wanted the um, correct time."

"It's 3:21."

"We should head back to the hotel at 4 or a little after, so we can get supper and then we can get to bed early."

"There's still one mutant here we have to ask, right?"

"Yeah. Then we can head back to the base. There's a town we can stop at on the way there. There are two more mutants there." Erik nodded; he still hadn't taken his turn.

"Will we be done then?"

"There's a town outside of Langley; we can ask around there, as well."

"Hmm." Erik hesitantly took his turn. Charles quickly took his turn, "You're still in check."

* * *

Dakota left Macy's empty handed; though there were many scarfs, boots, and shirts that appealed to her, they were too darn expensive! She just wanted to browse really. It was around 3:21 and she decided to walk back to the hotel. She hummed a song called 'Fun'. As she hummed and walked down the side walk, a big group of first graders; accompanied by a dozen or so adults; came straight towards her. They must have been on some sort of field trip or something. Dakota walked through the group of six-year olds, "Excuse me, sorry. Pardon me. Sorry." She got passed the group and headed down another street, when-

She realized that her pearl bracelet wasn't on her left wrist anymore. She stopped and held her left wrist thinking. She could have sworn that she had it on when she left Macy's and she just noticed it missing now, which meant…

"Son of-" Dakota ran after the group of first graders.

"No, I don't know who took it, I just know that one of your students must've stolen it."

"Miss, please. Your accusation is really high and you do not have any proof that any of my students stole anything from anyone, let alone you," said a female teacher, who had yellow hair and brown eyes. She insisted on telling Dakota that no one in her class stole her bracelet, but Dakota knew.

"Excuse me?" asked a mother of one of the students, "How long are you going to waste our time?" She had thin mousy brown hair and brown eyes. She was also dressed in expensive clothing; no doubt from Macy's.

"As long as I bloody well please."

"Look, I spent the most money for this field trip and stopping to be harassed by reckless young women was not what I paid for."

Dakota just stared at this woman. "Who do you think you are?"

"Lucille Trisadee, part of the wealthiest family in Silver Springs, Maryland."

"Pleasure," Dakota said not impressed. "But have you lost anything of value today? No? Didn't think so! So, why don't you be a good money bags and mind your own damn business!" Mrs. Trisadee looked insulted and was about to say something, when another mother came over. She had thick dark brown hair that had a slight red tint to it, and light blue eyes. She was dressed in clothes less expensive looking than Mrs. Trisadee.

"You said you lost a pearl bracelet?" she asked in a scratchy, low voice. (The woman was probably in her late twenties, but the sound of her voice and the lines under her eyes made it apparent to Dakota that she had been through some tough times.)

"Yes."

The woman sighed, "Then, I think my son is the one who took it." Dakota gave an 'I told you so' look to the teacher and Mrs. Trisadee, and walked towards the other mother; who vaguely looked familiar.

"Your son, you say? Where is he?" Dakota asked with a less then sincere smile.

"I know that you're upset, but he's just a child. And there was really no harm done so-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where is he?"

The mother sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing. She pointed to a bench that was off away from the group. Dakota headed towards the bench; there was a six year old boy sitting on the bench swinging his legs around like he was excited. Dakota saw that he was holding her bracelet in his hands and was constantly turning it over; examining it. She opened her mouth to say something, when she hesitated. She stopped walking.

Was he…? Could he? Her sensing powers told her that this boy was a mutant. But…six years old? In all her years of meeting mutants there were only two types of mutants that showed their powers before they were twelve: mutants who were class four or higher, and mutants who had super speed.

Like her.

It was only now did Dakota realize that the kid had silver gray hair; another sign that he was a mutant. Dakota had to change her approach now; at first she had every intension to go and yell at the kid, but now…

She sat on the bench next to him; he glanced over at her. She smiled; he turned away. "Hey kid, you know that's my bracelet?"

He nodded and quickly said, "That's what Mom told me. You gonna have me arrested?"

Dakota chuckled, "No. I will admit, I had every intention to come over here and yell at you, but now I'm not."

The gray haired kid looked up at her with deep brown eyes. "How come?" Dakota put her arm around the back of the bench and looked back at the group, to make sure no one could hear her.

She turned back towards the kid. "Because you are just like me," she whispered. The boy looked perplexed. "You see the world differently, don't you? It goes from being like this," she pointed at everything around her, "to being so ridiculously slow. It's like the whole world stopped." The kid's eyes widen, understanding what she was talking about. "It takes a while to get used to it, to be able to see the world both ways but once you do…there's nothing you can't do. There's nowhere you can't go. It's an amazing gift to have." Dakota sighed, before saying, "When you are about thirteen, the power you already posse with double and you will have some issues controlling it, but that'll only last a year, maybe less depending on how strong you are. How strong are you, kid?" She smiled at the kid again.

He didn't answer her question, instead he blinked down at the bracelet in his hands again. "My teachers say I should slow down. They say I talk too fast."

"Kid, would you believe me, if I told you that I used to talk a mile per minute, too?"

"No."

Dakota laughed, the kid was honest. "Well, I did and I slowed down; a little bit. Maybe about an inch. But I'm telling you right now; don't ever let anyone tell you to slow down. Only you know when you should slow down, not them." She pointed at the group of students, parents, and teachers. "Besides, not too many people can manage to steal something from _me_ and almost get away with it. Quite the gift you got there." The kid looked up at her again.

"Most people don't think stealing is a gift."

"No, I suppose most people don't. But as the case may be, I'm not 'most people'." She smiled at him, so did he.

"So, did you steal my bracelet for a girl?" He stopped smiling and started to turn red. "That's it isn't it?" she exclaimed, "Which one?" She started scanning through the students and tried to figure out which little girl the kid had a crush on.

"Her name is Ella Trisadee," he said after a second, "I thought she would like something pretty."

"Trisadee? Oh no. You got a crush on the daughter of that uppity money bags? Jeez, you know how to pick them." The kid glared at her. "Hey, take it easy. You like who you want to like." The kid turned her bracelet over in his hands once more before handing it to her. "Thank you." He nodded.

"Are they real, the pearls?" he asked.

"Yeah," she hooked the clasp and made sure it was on, before adjusting it on her wrist.

A second later. "Where'd you get 'em?"

"My boyfriend gave them to me."

Another second later. "How much were they?"

"What is this, twenty questions?!" she threw her arms in the air. The kid flinched then look at her like, 'Really?'

The look made her smirk. "Sorry. Hey, I never asked, what's your name?"

"Peter Maximoff."

"You know Peter, you look to be growing into an old man already! Your hair is gray!" She brushed his hair off his forehead with her hand.

"Mom said that when I was three it was brown but then it turned gray over night. It's been that way ever since." He smiled, "I like it better this way."

Dakota got closer to him, "So do I." They both chuckled. Dakota wished she could stay a bit longer and get to know the kid better, but she had to head back to the hotel. She stood up from the bench, "Well, kid, I'm afraid I better be going." Peter nodded, but seemed disappointed.

"If you're ever in Silver Springs come see me," he said a bit too hopeful. "You can visit me." He thought for a moment before adding, "And my mom, and my twin sister."

"I'll try sometime. But till then see you around Quickie-Boy."

"Quickie-Boy?"

"Yeah, you should have a code name. Every thief should have a code name."

"Quickie-Boy is the best you came up with?"

"Oh, and I'm sure you would do better?"

Peter stopped and thought for a moment. Then he said, "Quicksilver."

"Okay. That is better." Peter beamed. "But I'm still calling ya Quickie-Boy." Peter scowled and Dakota laughed. She started to walk away, when she heard him ask, "What's your code name?"

She turned to face him again. _'Now that's a good question.'_

"How about…Quickgold?"

Peter frowned. "'Gold'? Where'd you get 'gold' from?"

Dakota groaned, "My hair genius. It's gold."

"Technically it's golden _rod_." She groaned again, she didn't know what her code name should be. She started looking around looking for a name or something that would be a good name. "Having trouble?" Peter asked a little too cheekily.

"No." She checked her watch. _'Wow!'_ It was already 4 o'clock! Man, how long had she been yelling at that yellow haired teacher? Then she saw the brand of her watch: TIMEX.

"TimeX," she said happily. Peter thought for a moment then nodded his head in approval. "See ya Quickie-Boy." She turned before she saw his scowl but she knew it was there. She smiled at Peter's mother as she walked by. She then headed to the hotel so class could finish their field trip.

* * *

Week 2, Day 4

"So our next possible mutant candidate is somewhere in this aquarium?" Erik asked as the trio walked into the D.C. Fish Zoo.

"Apparently, he comes here every day," Charles said. The trio went into the back of the 'Fish Zoo' and started to search for the mutant.

"Why would anyone want to come to an aquarium every day?" Erik asked not looking impressed by all the colorful fish.

"Maybe he likes fish," Dakota offered. "Or somebody he knows likes fish." Dakota had no way of knowing it but she was right on both points.

Sean Cassidy had always loved fish, ever since he was five he thought they looked so cool. And there was this girl. Named Anna Poppy. Who went to his high school. Who also happened to think fish were pretty cool. She was also one of the most popular and prettiest girls in school; what chance did he have, really? But man, he could dream.

Anna was looking at the tank that had the Clown Fish in it. Sean was close by and didn't have any idea what he would say, but by God he would say something!

"Crazy huh?"

"What?" Anna said startled.

"You like fish. I like fish too. Maybe we should get a bite sometime, talk about it." He knew it was the worst pick up line ever, but he still felt a small spark of hope.

"I'd rather go out with the fish," Anna said, and then left Sean standing alone. Sean felt that small spark fade, though he had no reason to. No way would Anna Poppy go out with someone like him! He leaned close to the glass of the tank and let out a muffled scream. It caused a small shock wave in the water, which scared the fish to death. They all swam away.

"These fish?" he asked turning to look at Anna. Anna looked confused and freaked out. She left. Sean turned to look at the now abandoned fish tank. He sighed. A second later he felt the presence of some people behind him. He glanced over his shoulder; yep there were some people behind him. Then there was someone right beside him.

"That was painful," said a woman with a British accent.

Sean turned, "What was?"

"That pick up line. Jeez, dear heart. Your flitting skills could use some serious help."

Sean chuckled, "And I'm sure you would know all about my flitting skills."

The British woman shrugged, "No, but what you did to make the fish disappear was impressive. Don't you think so?" She turned to the people who were behind him. He turned too. The 'people' were two men; a taller serious one and a shorter less serious one.

"Yes, quite amazing actually," said the shorter man, who also had a British accent. Sean wondered at exactly what point, he landed in Britain. The taller man nodded in an agreement, but didn't say anything.

"Yeeaah, thanks?" It came out as question because the few people who knew that he could do…well, something that wasn't normal, didn't find it 'impressive'. "Who are you people?"

The British woman laughed, "Wow, straight to Final Jeopardy." Then she cleared her throat, "I'm Dakota Patience. The British man is Charles Xavier. And the quiet, man in the depressing clothes is Erik Lehnsherr. I mean, seriously. Don't you think his clothes are depressing?" She asked Sean. Sean raised an eyebrow at her.

"Dakota," Erik said in a low almost ominous tone.

"Yeah, I know. Stop picking on your clothes. You two told me six times already."

"Apparently, we'll have to tell you seven times," Erik growled.

"Honestly the jacket's fine," Sean interrupted; he was actually answering Dakota's question. "So are the slacks and the shoes. And I don't think anything is wrong with wearing all black, I just prefer brightly colored things myself," he said motioning to his orange shirt. "The only thing I don't like about his look is why a black turtle neck _sweate_ r? It's freaking 80 degrees outside!"

Charles and Erik stared at the red head. Dakota started to laugh again. "I think I'm going to like this kid!" Sean grinned. Dakota kept laughing for a few seconds then took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. "So, do you want to join the CIA?" Sean's expression changed.

"What?"

* * *

After convincing Sean that they were not pulling a prank on him, Charles, Erik, and Dakota sat him down in the aquarium and explained to him that they wanted him to join their mutant division.

"You want me to join the CIA?" He pondered for a moment, "That's wicked! How many people are asked to join the CIA?"

"Well, in the last few days, you're the ninth mutant we've asked," Erik answered in monotone voice. It was obvious that he didn't care for Sean's enthusiasm.

"Oh, will you leave the kid alone! Let him have his fun. He doesn't have to be all no fun like you." Erik sent a glare at her, which she missed because she was paying more attention to the excited red head. Sean decided that he would come with them.

"Oh, wait. We'll have to tell my rents."

"Your rents?" Charles asked.

"Yeah. Mom and Dad," Sean said.

"His parents," Dakota clarified, for Erik and Charles. The two nodded, now understanding.

The four of them got into the black CIA car and headed to Sean's house. He got together a bag of clothes, while the trio explained to his parents that Sean wouldn't be home for a while. They didn't seem too concerned about their only son; who was only seventeen; leaving home. In fact they seemed-almost-happy. Dakota noticed that half of the pictures hanging on the walls had cracked glass. Sean's screams must have gotten away from him.

Sean also seemed happy to be leaving his 'rents' home. They were back on the road again heading towards Langley. Sean was a talkative teen, he also had the tendency to ramble on.

And on.

And on…

"…Yeah, and once my friend said I didn't have a chance with Anna Poppy. That made me mad. So I said I would ask her out and he told me that I was crazy. Well, I told him that he was acting like an ass-"

"Boy do you know how to tell a story! You've been talking about your friend and this Anna girl for the last hour and half!" Dakota exclaimed. "Talk about a freaking long story!"

"Well you guys don't seem to be talking about anything in particular. And I hate it when it is so quiet!" Sean sat in the back seat with Erik, while Charles and Dakota were in the front seat.

"We all could use some quiet, dear heart!"

"What do you mean?"

"Sean don't take this the wrong way, but I think Dakota wants you to shut up," Erik said. Sean glared at the older man next to him.

"You," Dakota pointed at Erik in the rear view mirror, "don't put words in my mouth."

Sean, still glaring at Erik, said, "Well just because you, Charles, and British want to be sticks in the mud doesn't mean that I-"

"Did you just call me British?" Dakota asked.

"Yeah, everyone needs a nickname."

"Well, I know what you can call Charles. You can call him Professor."

"Why?"

"Because he's a professor."

"Of what?"

"Genetics," Charles answered.

"Why genetics?"

"Why is this any of your business?" Erik asked.

"Excuse me for asking some questions about some people who I literary just met two hours ago."

"Ignore him, Sean. If you have a question just ask," Charles said rubbing his temples, feeling the start of another head ache.

"Did you just tell him to ignore me?" Erik asked.

"Yes, I did. But I-"

"Yes, he did. So just shhhh!" Dakota interrupted. Erik glared at Dakota, again. Charles just shook his head. Sean smiled.

The four of them made it to a town outside of D.C., Alexandria, VA. There the trio would ask two more mutants. There first mutant in Alexandria was a girl named Tandy Bowen.

"So what can she do?" Sean asked as they pulled to the curve of a nice house.

"She can project daggers of light," Dakota answered; she put the car in park and got out of the car, followed by Charles.

"…Ahh…What? Am I suppose to know what that means?" Sean shouted at Dakota. Erik rubbed his head and got out. Sean started to follow him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"With you guys to talk to this Tandy lady."

"No."

"No?"

"You're staying in the car."

"British! Professor! He wouldn't let me come."

Dakota smirked and Charles softly smiled. "I'm sorry, Sean, but I think it's best if you wait here."

"Better luck next time, kid. And stop calling me British."

The trio walked up the driveway and headed to the door; Sean stood and watched them go into the house. He slumped back into his seat; totally not fair!

Tandy's mother let the three of them in; she told them that Tandy was in her room with her friend. They walked upstairs and into her room. Her room was typical of any teenage girl; posters, flowers, color, music albums, small balls of light floating around the room…okay, maybe that wasn't typical. And Tandy's friend, Dakota realized, was also a mutant. The two of their heads shot up as soon as Charles, Erik, and Dakota entered the room.

Tandy stood from where she was sitting on the bed. "Who are you?" she snapped.

"I'm Charles Xavier. This is Erik Lehnsherr and Dakota Patience. We are here to ask you if you want to come with us to-"

"I don't care who you are or what my mother told you, but I'm not leaving this house. I did nothing wrong and this," Tandy pointed at one of the floating balls of light, "is not the work of anything demonic. I just do it okay?!"

"Whoa, Tandy. I think you're misunderstanding us, dear heart. Look just relax and-"

"You heard her. Get of here!" Tandy's friend yelled.

"Look we are not here to take you away or anything like that. We wanted you to come with us and if you wanted to join the C-"

"I said go away!" Tandy threw her hand towards the three of them and all of the balls of lights hit them. It threw them back into the hallway and against the wall. The three sat on the floor stunned for a moment.

"Well, that hurt," Dakota said.

"Tyrone, get them out of my house," Tandy told her friend. He walked out into the hallway, he had a black cloak in his hands. Before anyone could react he threw the cloak on them.

* * *

Sean sat patiently in the car, whistling a song he heard on the radio. Now, if only he could remember the name of said song…

Panks Park?

No that wasn't it.

Palisades Paradise?

No, defiantly not.

Palisades…Park!

Palisades Park, that's what the song was called. He smiled to himself and looked up and saw that Dakota, and Charles were back in the front seat and Erik was sitting next to him again. He jumped back and hit his head.

"How the hell did you get back here without me hearing you? I know that I can be self-absorbed, but I wasn't thinking about Palisades Park that much."

"That boy teleported us out here," Dakota said looking at Charles. He nodded slightly shaken up.

"Boy? I thought you were going after a girl."

"She had a friend. Neither wanted to join; they thought we going to take them away against their will. That girl's mother must have tried that before," Erik concluded. The trio sat in the car thinking about what had just happened; Sean looked between the three of them, got bored, and started whistling Palisades Park again.

They left Tandy's home a few minutes later and went to the next mutant's home.

"I think I'm going in circles. What was the address again?"

"You would think you would remember it after five times," Erik mumbled.

"Hey do you want to drive?"

"No."

"Then back off! Now tell me the address again." Charles repeated the address and this time they found the mutant's home.

"Um, is this the right house?" Sean asked taking in the run-down, broken 'house' that was more like a shack.

Charles looked at the card he had that had the mutant's name and location. "According to the coordinates, this is the right place."

"Times have been tough for our fellow mutant," Erik commented.

"What's this guy's name?" Sean asked.

"Dave Lingerhangenlee," Charles answered.

"…Can I get that last name again?"

"What kind of name is Langhingerlee?" Dakota asked taking of her seat belt.

" _Lingerhangenlee._ And I don't know what kind of name that is. Shall we?" Charles got out of the car; so did Dakota and Erik. Sean opened the car door.

"You know I can help you guys talk to this Lingerhangenleeing guy, right?"

" _Lingerhangenlee_ ," Charles corrected. "And I think it would be best if you-"

"Stay here. Guard the car. Don't go nowhere. I know, I know." Sean sat back in the car and shut the car door. The trio went up to the house.

"Talk about a shack. I wonder how much he pays a month to stay in this dump." Dakota stared knocking on the door. "This place smells like a garbage truck," she wrinkled her nose.

"Some people can't afford much. They work hard for places like this. It's a shame that they can't afford anything better," Charles said, his voice full of empathy.

Dakota kept knocking on the door until the door flew open. Dakota threw her hand back; startled. Charles and Erik looked into the house, no one was standing in the doorway.

"Hello?" Erik and Charles walked into the house. The house had no furniture, no pictures, no knick knacks, and no indication that anyone was even living there. All the walls in the house were white but they had that old discolored look; like rain had leaked in and flooded the rooms. Charles walked in what would have been the living room. "Hello?"

Dakota stepped over the threshold into the house and as soon as she did she had that similar feeling she had a week ago. When she knew that there was an abandoned gas station…

She felt like she knew this house and the mutant who lived here. His mutation was unique; she could sense that. But she felt the fear he felt when he used his powers. She knew where he was hiding. She walked up the stairs in a trance of sorts. Once again, she couldn't explain how she knew things that she shouldn't have. She just _knew_. She reached the top of the stairs and looked around until she found the second door on the right. This was a broom closet. She placed her hand on the door knob and hesitated before turning it. (She couldn't put her finger on it but she had the feeling something would happen if she opened the door.) She shook those thoughts away and turned the knob and opened the closet door.

Sitting in the closet was a man, mid-twenties, who was holding his legs to his chest and rocking back and forth. He seemed oblivious to Dakota's presence; he was in his own little world. He was mumbling to himself and was crying. Dakota just stared at the seemingly broken man. He looked up at her suddenly with black eyes and scowled at her. Her eyes widened and she took a step back. She stepped on something and twisted her ankle. She yelped and fell down.

The trance that she had been in was broken when she felt her ankle pop out. The man in the closet hadn't moved from his spot, he just glared at Dakota as she held her ankle and gritted her teeth.

' _Charles!'_

' _Dakota? What is it? What's wrong?'_

' _I found Lingerhangenlee and somehow I twisted my bloody ankle!'_

' _Alright just hang on Erik and I are coming. Where are you?'_

' _Upstairs.'_

Charles ran to the stairs and yelled for Erik. "Erik! Come upstairs with me; we need to help Dakota." Charles ran up the stairs and he heard Erik following him.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I just know that we have to get up there."

The two reached the top of the stairs and saw Dakota trying to stand on her twisted ankle. Both of their instincts told them to run to her and help her. Erik stopped himself and let Charles go to Dakota's side. "Are you alright? What happened? Did Lingerhangenlee hurt you?" Charles questioned, worrying himself silly. He put his arm around her waist and she put her arm around his shoulders.

Erik peered into the closet where Lingerhangenlee was back to mumbling and crying to himself. Erik was about to step a bit closer but Dakota stopped him.

' _Wait!'_ He turned. "Don't get near him, let's just go," Dakota whispered.

"We can't just leave him," Charles protested. "Just look at the poor fella."

"Yeah, I looked. Then he _looked_ like he wanted to kill me."

"Maybe we should just help him and not invite him to join the CIA," Erik offered. He took a step closer to the closet.

"Don't!" Lingerhangenlee looked up at Erik with his black eyes and gave him the same scowl he had given Dakota. Erik stepped back. The trio heard something in the house creaking and the house moaned.

They looked around the hallway trying to find where the sound was coming from. "What is that?" Erik finally asked. Charles just shook his head not knowing. Dakota closed her eyes, took a deep breath, let it out, and opened her eyes again.

"It's the water pipes," she stated. The two men looked at her confused. "The water pipes in the house. They're breaking."

* * *

Sean sat patiently in the car, still whistling Palisades Park. He wished he could've come in with Professor, British, and… Huh? He'd have to come up with a nickname for Erik. 'Erik' was too simple. Besides he loved annoying people and he could tell that Erik would totally be annoyed if he called him by a nickname. Now to think of one!

…German? No, that's what he would expect after calling Dakota, British.

Ahhh…Tall Guy? Heck no!

Dark Depressing Clothes Wearer! No. Sean would not call Erik that, but he would tell Dakota. Then she could call him that.

At that very moment Sean heard something and he put his thought process on hold. He looked at the shack and a second later a tidal wave came bursting through the front door! Sean got out of the car. The wave splashed against the car and got Sean wet. He started wondering at what point did he end up at a water park. His wet hair was plastered on his face. He shook his head around until it was off his face. (His hair looked crazy. It was sticking up and was curlier then usual.) On the lawn he saw three people lying there motionless. They were: British, Professor, and Erik. He hurried over.

"Hey! You guys alive?" The trio stirred. "Oh good, you guys are alive." Erik mumbled something in German. "What was that? I don't speak German." Erik opened his eyes and glared at the teen. Charles rubbed his head, mumbled a 'Bloody hell' and opened his eyes too. Dakota groaned and said, "Talk about a big bloody tidal wave."

"What the hell happened?" Sean asked.

"That is what I would like to know," Erik said, sitting up. Dakota and Charles sat up, too.

"Dave Lingerhangenlee has the peculiar gift to change the aura around an individual which causes negative effects to occur," Charles stated. Erik and Sean stared at the soaking wet professor, having no idea what he just said.

Dakota groaned again and rolled her eyes. "He can make bad things happen to people."

"Ohh. Why didn't the Professor just say that?" Sean asked.

Charles signed, "I did say that. I just said it in a more technical way."

"Whatever you said is fine, let's just get out of here," Dakota said.

"I agree with you this time," Erik said, getting up. Charles and Erik helped Dakota up. Sean got to the car first and opened the backseat door and the passenger seat door.

"I call shot gun!" he shouted getting into the front seat.

"Someone else drive! I can't at the moment," Dakota shouted, as Charles and Erik helped her to the car.

"I'll drive," Charles said, leaving Dakota with Erik. He ran around to the driver's side and got in. Erik helped Dakota in the back seat and got in himself; he shut the car door. Charles started the car and took off.

When they were sure that Lingerhangenlee hadn't followed them, Dakota decided she would heal her ankle.

"Think calm thoughts," she whispered. She held her hands to her head, they glowed bright pink, and her ankle became untwisted. Sean watched from the front seat with wide eyes and an open mouth. Once her ankle was healed she took her hands away from her head and glanced at the amazed teen. "Shut your mouth."

Sean realized his mouth was still opened and quickly shut it. "So…wow. That's your power? I've never seen anything like that." Sean continued to express his amazement. "So, you can heal yourself. Can you heal others?"

"Yes. But that's not all I can do."

"…You can do other things?" Dakota nodded. "You have more than one power?" Dakota smirked and nodded again. "Wow. I know I just found out that there are other people who are like me, but isn't it rare to have more than one power?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On what class they are."

"What does-"

"-That mean? There are five classes, which are the levels of how powerful a mutant is. For example, everyone in this car is above Class 3."

"Is that good?" Sean asked.

"Class 1 is the lowest level and Class 5 is the highest level. So we're all above average with our powers."

"Above average? At what point did I end up back at school, teach?" Sean asked with a mischievous smile.

"Ha, ha, ha. Point is you can have five powers, but if you're only Class 1 then it's rare. Class 3 or anything higher and it's not that rare to find other mutants with as many as six powers."

"Six?! And I just have one!"

"Don't feel bad kid, I only have one power, too," Erik said. "At least one that I'm aware of." He smiled. Dakota smirked. Charles warily looked at the two of them in the rear view mirror.

* * *

They made it back to the base that night; which was remarkable because everyone was tired and Sean was getting on everyone's last nerve. Charles parked the black CIA car beside Darwin's taxi and the four of them got out.

"Why does the CIA have a taxi cab?" Sean asked, looking over the taxi.

"The CIA doesn't have a taxi, a mutant named Darwin does," Dakota snapped.

"Oh." The four of them went to the rec room to see if anyone was still awake. When they reached the rec room Raven, Angel, Darwin, and Alex were all up listening to extremely loud music, playing games, and laughing.

"The night is still young!" Dakota exclaimed walking into the rec room. Everyone in said rec room looked up.

"Oh no. Look who came back," Alex said gruffly.

"Yeah I missed you too, dear heart."

"'The night is still young'?" Sean asked walking in with Charles and Erik.

"Yeah, song from the future." Dakota sat down on the couch facing Charles, Erik, and Sean were. "Sung by this lady with a big behind…Nicki-Something. I forget her last name."

"So who's this guy?" Angel asked motioning to Sean and completely changing the subject.

"Oh this is-" Charles started.

"Hey, Professor. I can introduce myself," Sean interrupted. He cleared his throat as if he was about to say something _really_ important.

"To hear him clear his throat like that, you'd think he was giving a ten minute presentation," Dakota said with a small smirk.

"Oh shush!" Sean waved his hand at her. "Anyways, I'm Se-"

Moira walked into the rec room interrupting Sean's 'big' introduction. The three men who were still close to the door turned when she suddenly burst through the door.

Sean froze.

She was pretty.

Really pretty!

Prettier then Anna Poppy, that was for damn sure. Her deep brown eyes were captivating! Her hair was perfectly layered and straight. And she had a certain grace when she came bursting through the door.

Sean did not realize that he was staring at Moira, until her deep brown eyes met his darker green ones.

"So who's this?" Moira asked.

"That's what we're trying to find out," Alex grumbled.

Sean sputtered, "I'm-I…I'm-"

"He's Sean Cassidy," Dakota interrupted. (Though Sean didn't like being interrupted, he was thankful someone could remember his name.)

Sean shook his head, "Yeah."

"Well, um, nice to meet you. I'm Moira MacTaggert." Moira extended her hand to him. He just stared at her hand. He couldn't remember what to do.

"Sean?"

Oh! That was him. He turned to where he heard his name being called.

"Sean, will you just shake the nice lady's hand, before the CIA wants us to attack somebody?" Dakota said, with a smirk. Sean glared at her slightly, then turned back to Moira. He shrugged and gave her an awkward smile. He took her hand and they shook hands. He once, again, did not realize he was staring at her; let alone still holding her hand!

"Um, can I have my hand back, please?" Moira asked eyeing her hand. Sean's eyes looked at their still joined hands. He quick took his hand back, and chuckled softly. Dakota shook her head and slapped her hand against her forehead; that was more painful than the fish pick up line.

What was with these young mutants falling for each? First Raven and Hank, then Angel and Darwin, and now Sean had his eyes, quite literary, on Moira. All of this young love, reminded her when she and Charles first started dating. But at least both of them had good pickup lines and were descant at flittering.

Sean needed help in both areas, or else he would never get anywhere with anyone!

Dakota put, 'help Sean talk to girls; especially Moira', on her mental check list of things to do.

* * *

Week 2, Day 5:

Dakota woke up early that day, to do something she knew Charles wouldn't like. She slipped out of bed and got dressed. She walked out of the bedroom and down the hall. She went outside and headed towards Cerebro. She knew her telepathy was her least powerful power, but she wanted to test to it. Charles would object and she didn't feel like arguing. She took the stairs two at a time. She opened the door and continued walking up the stairs until she was up in Cerebro. She walked causally over to the control panels. Her eyes scanned the buttons and switches, and flipped the ones she remembered Hank flipping the week before. The machine powered up, she smirked.

She walked to the small platform; she lowered the electrodes down on her head. She waited patiently for Cerebro to power up; it lit up. She screamed.

* * *

Erik woke with a stabbing pain in his head. He rose slowly from his bed and cradled his head. He heard a pounding on his door, which made his head hurt more. He stumbled up and fell against his bedroom wall. He groaned and made it to the door. He opened the door; it was Charles.

Charles was the mirrored image of Erik; holding his head, in obvious pain. "You feel that, too?" Charles asked. Erik nodded, "Yeah. Why the hell do we both have headaches?" Charles shook his head, pondering. Then he froze. His eyes widened. "Oh God." Then he started running down the hall. "Hey! Where are you going?" Erik ran after him.

Erik found himself running outside, in his pajamas mind you, towards Cerebro. Charles was almost up the stairs, getting the door opened. Erik ran upstairs and stopped a few steps behind Charles. "Mind telling me why we are running around the base at 6 o'clock in the morning?" Erik said catching his breath. "We both have a headache at the same time. And we're both connected to Dakota." Erik's eyes widened, "So, we can feel _her_ emotions and feelings?"

"And her pain." The door opened, they both ran in. Dakota was laying on the floor, she was curled up in a ball. Her hands were gripping her head. Charles ran over followed by Erik. They knelt down next to her. Charles reached for her and cradled her in his arms. (Erik had the instinct to do the same, but he restrained himself and let Charles do it.)

Charles ran his hand through her unruly locks. "Dakota?" he whispered. No response. "Dakota? Can you hear me?" Again, no response. Charles' face was both pained and worried. He glanced at the electrodes over the small platform that were still humming and lite up. "Stupid girl," he mumbled; anger slightly in his voice.

Erik looked up, "Huh?"

Charles put his left hand under Dakota's head and his right hand under her legs and picked her up. Her head fell against Charles' chest. As Charles stood up so did Erik.

"She wanted to try Cerebro. I thought it was just a passing thought, but I didn't think she'd actually do it." Erik glanced at the electrodes and then followed Charles down the stairs where they hurried back into the base.

* * *

Hank did not know the side effects of Cerebro. It's not like he could test it on all the telepaths he met. He only ever met two! All he knew was that Dakota was in a deep sleep and he had no idea for how long.

Dakota laid in her and Charles' bed, while Charles and Raven sat at the table in the room waiting for her to wake. Erik paced outside the room. And even though Charles continued to tell him _'You don't have to wait out there'_ or _'You should go and relax in the rec room'_ Erik didn't stop pacing. Because one, he could not just sit somewhere and relax, two, he was just as worried as Charles and Raven were and he would wait until he knew Dakota was alright, and three, pacing was the only thing that calmed his mind when he was worried. He used to do that when he was a child; when the threat of the Nazis became more extreme. And though Charles had said 'Don't worry, my friend, I'm sure she'll be alright' Erik could tell that Charles didn't even believe his reassuring words. And Erik would bet money that he wasn't the only person worrying right now.

* * *

Was it crazy that he was worrying about a lady who he literally met the day before? Sean didn't know the answer to that. Maybe. But Dakota didn't feel like some random girl he met, she felt like a close, or semi-close friend. He sat next to the fish tank, watching the colorful fish swim. It calmed his mind when he was worried.

* * *

Hank was in his lab, trying desperately to think up something, anything that would help Dakota wake up. He didn't know her that well, but he felt like he knew her, thanks to all those late night talks with Raven. But for once he felt out of his element. So, after an hour of searching through his lab he decided to continue to examine Raven's blood. Burying himself in scientific work calmed his mind when he was worried.

* * *

Alex would never admit it. Never. He almost didn't admit to himself, but he was _slightly_ worried about Dakota. _Slightly._ True, she wasn't his favorite person in the world but still, there was something about her that made him not hate her as much as he pretended to do. On the other hand a day without her 'Dear hearting' this and 'Dear hearting' that, would be nice. He didn't want her die by any means, but…just sleep for the day. On the other hand, again, he hated seeing Xavier and Raven looking so worried. He played pinball in the rec room and put on his 'I don't care' expression. Pretending to not worry calmed his mind when he was worried.

* * *

Moira didn't consider her and Dakota friends, but they could be friends over time. In a way she admired Dakota for being a strong woman and never letting any man (or woman) tell her how to live her life. It was a personality trait the Moira wished she had. She was strong, yes, but she always ended up letting herself get walked all over. When Dakota woke up maybe they could sit and chat; Moira was so work centric, she didn't have many friends. But for now she continued to talk to the agent to see if there was any news on Shaw. Trying to find mutant terrorists calmed her mind when she was worried.

* * *

Angel did not like Dakota. At all. Which was fine, she knew that Dakota didn't like her either. She didn't like her attitude. She always had to be right and have the last say in things. All things. Everything. And though most people thought she had a charm about her, Angel thought that she was just plain smug and arrogant. Angel really could care less what happened to Dakota she was more worried about her new found friend: Raven.

* * *

Darwin played cards with Angel. He knew that it was Angel's way of coping because she couldn't make Raven feel better. It was obvious that Angel and Raven were becoming close friends and that Angel hated seeing Raven like this. But what else was obvious to Darwin, was that everyone was worried about a hot-headed, stubborn, witty British woman. Darwin knew that she was important to the group and would help keep it together; he just kind of sensed it. Part of his mutation apparently. He continued to play cards with Angel and smiled at her over his cards, she smiled back.

Angel and Darwin both had the tendency to pretend that everything was okay, in order to calm their minds when they were worried.

* * *

Raven knew Dakota would be fine. Dakota was too strong-willed and too stubborn to die. But even the possibility, the very thought that she could lose her sister, made Raven shutter. She sat with Charles in his room and she trimmed her nails. Actually she cleaned them, picked at them, shined them, _then_ she trimmed them. She would've painted them too had any of the girls had nail-polish. Raven had the nervous tic to play with her nails; she had ever since she was a little girl. But she tried not to worry, Dakota would be fine, she had to be. Playing with her nails and telling herself everything was fine calmed Raven's mind down when she was worried.

* * *

Charles' head was reeling. Everyone's thoughts were so loud, so worried, so intense. He had barely recovered from Cerebro and his headaches were more frequent now, but this was the worse they had been so far. He hated hearing the others' thoughts, but he wasn't reading their minds intentionally, he just sometimes…couldn't control it. Whenever he met someone new he got fragments of their life, the important memories. The memories that an individual thought about. All the time. Night and day. Erik for example, even now his vengeance for Shaw was always in the back of his mind, his thoughts of making Shaw bleed…Charles held his head with his hands.

When he wasn't having these bloody headaches Charles could usually block others' thoughts and let them keep their privacy. But at the moment the only person's thoughts he was so desperately trying to block were Raven's. He made a promise long ago to never read her mind. He would try his hardest to abide to that promise.

His head also still hurt from Dakota trying out Cerebro.

He didn't understand her sometimes. What was her problem? Was she trying to get herself killed? Did she never think about the consequences? She thought she was invincible; that's what it really was. She thought she could do anything and at times so did Charles. (Except cook. She tried to make a birthday cake for Raven once and it turned into a birthday _pan_ cake.) She never listened to authority, she had to always be right, and she didn't trust people. He knew that when he first met her when they were seven. But even when it was obvious that they loved each other…he never could rid himself of the feeling that she, at times, didn't even trust him. Times like this he wondered why he was with her. Really, why? They had such differences on a lot of things: music, politics, opinions on humans. Why did he hold onto their relationship? He knew they had been having some issues but… Why out of all the women in the world, why Dakota Marie Patience?

He didn't know the answer to that question.

All he knew was that even though he knew a life with her was going to be changeling he would never change it. _'You love her,'_ he told himself, _'and you would do anything for her.'_ He knew this was true; he would switch places with her just so she'd be okay. If Dakota hated him, he would still love her with all his heart. And maybe he was a bit jealous of Erik and Dakota's friendship/connection, but they were just friends and he was just overreacting.

' _Hopefully.'_

Unlike the others Charles didn't have something to do to calm his mind when he was worried; he just worried.

* * *

In the afternoon, Erik couldn't take it anymore and went into the room he had been pacing outside of for the past six hours. Hank was in there looking for any changes or symptoms or whatever. Raven sat on the edge of her seat waiting anxiously, for Hank to say something. Charles sat on the corner of the bed, near Dakota's head. He gently stroking the hair on her forehead.

Erik slowly backed towards the door; he suddenly felt like an outsider bursting in on a private family affair. He probably would've just left and would have gone unnoticed, but his eyes went to Dakota. She was so still and… pale? It was almost surreal for Erik to see Dakota; who was always so full of life and always had a witty comment hanging on her tongue; so pale, so small, so _human._

Erik stepped back and hit the opened bedroom door with his shoulder, causing it to hit the wall. Charles looked up and met Erik's gaze. If Hank and Raven looked up too, Erik didn't know. He just looked into Charles eyes and asked, _'Is she okay?'_

Charles didn't answer right away. Not a good sign in Erik's mind. After what felt like hours Charles answered, _'Hank says that if she wakes up later today, she should make a full recovery.'_

' _And if she doesn't wake up later today?'_

'… _Her chances for recovery get slimmer every hour she doesn't wake up.'_

Erik took a deep breath and finally broke eye contact with Charles. He leaned against the wall. He didn't really pay any attention to what Hank said after that. He didn't pay attention to when Hank left. Or even when Raven walked past to leave herself. Only when he heard her voice did he pay attention.

"Erik?" He turned to the young blond. "I'm going to the rec room to clear my head, I think you should come with me." Erik blinked at the offer. Raven seemed to be genuinely concerned about him.

Interesting.

"No. I…" he looked over at Charles, still sitting by Dakota. "I think I'll just stay here. For a while." Raven's eyes showed something similar to disappointment, and then she nodded and left the room; she pulled the door closed behind her. Erik made his way to the table and chair in the middle of the room. He sat down in the chair closest to where Charles and Dakota were.

"It's amazing," Erik said after a while.

"What?" Charles asked, looking a bit confused.

"It's amazing that a group of people can worry about someone that they have only known for a short time."

Charles softly chuckled.

"I mean she makes a hell of first impression. When I first met her all I kept thinking was 'Was that crazy girl real?'"

"Yeah, she has that effect on most people." Charles looked over at Erik, he didn't seem as worried as before. "And almost everyone who's met her has asked 'Is she always like this?'"

Both men chuckled. Charles met Erik's eyes again and then went back to looking at Dakota. "You know, most times I can't keep up with her. She's so…fast paced. She has seen so much and has been to so many different times. She…she's not much for this slow paced time."

"Slow paced?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, slow paced for her. Her perception is different from ours. Perception is an interesting thing-" Erik tried to listen to Charles ramble on about perceptions and then about some theory about time and space, but he couldn't help but worry about Dakota. The whole reason he stayed in here was to see how Dakota and Charles were doing. He deliberately tried to get Charles' mind off of Dakota and it worked, but _he_ was still worrying about Dakota.

"-and time is more of a thing of our perception than anything else and…" Erik looked up at Charles when he realized he had stopped talking. Charles was looking at Erik with a small smile. "You probably don't want to hear about some dumb theory, do you?"

"Ahh, not really," Erik chuckled softly. Charles smiled again, then looked down at Dakota again. His smiled vanished and he shook his head.

"I don't know what I would do without her, Erik. She's my life. If anything happened to her, I…" Charles' voice trailed off.

"Get up, Charles."

"Huh?"

"Get up." Erik got up from his chair, grabbed Charles by his arm, and dragged him towards the door.

"Wait-what are you…? Where are you taking me?"

"I don't know, but diffidently out of this room."

"I can't leave! Dakota's-"

"Dakota will be fine. If she wakes up she will use the connection to tell us." Erik opened the door and continued to drag Charles out of the room and down the hallway. Charles struggled to get his arm back but Erik's grip didn't falter. And though it was obvious that Erik was stronger than the younger man, Charles still tried to put up a fight.

Charles grabbed onto one of the doors and momentary stopped them. "Would you please!" Erik exclaimed. His grip on Charles' arm tightened and he grabbed his shoulder and continued to drag him down the hall.

"This is ridiculous," Charles mumbled.

"You're ridiculous."

Erik brought them into one of the base's many office rooms. They sat at a table by a window; Charles glared at Erik while he set up the chess board.

"Please tell me that you did not just drag me half way around the base because you so _desperately_ needed to play a game of chess," Charles said, not even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"I dragged you half way around the base, because you've been cooped up in that room for six hours worrying your head off. You needed a change and you needed to get your mind off of Dakota."

"Shouldn't _I_ be the one who knows what I need to do?"

"Not when what you think you need to do will end up giving you an ulcer."

Charles scoffed, "I'm too young to get an ulcer."

"Maybe, but it's still possible."

Charles scoffed again. Once again, Charles liked that Erik cared about him and once again, Charles hated being treated like a child.

* * *

It took a while, but after about seven rounds of chess Charles finally got into it and didn't seem as mad. They didn't really talk; they just played. Which that was okay, Erik knew that sometimes the best way to get your mind off of something was to just focus on something else. Talking doesn't always necessarily make people feel better. But after about an hour Erik broke the silence.

"It's 1:23."

Charles moved his knight to Erik's bishop.

"I haven't eaten anything all day."

Erik moved his queen to Charles' knight.

"Maybe we get something after this game," Charles suggested, concentrating on said game.

Charles moved his queen to Erik's knight.

"You know that if you keep going the way you're going I'll win and we can get a really late lunch."

"Is that so?"

Erik smirked a bit and moved his king to Charles rook.

Charles placed his hands on his knees and leaned closer to the chess board, thinking.

"You know, Charles, I'm sorry for dragging you half way around the base and everything but I just was…worried."

"I know." Charles placed his other knight in front of Erik's king. "You're in check."

Erik frowned. "You know?"

Charles looked up and met Erik's eyes, "Yeah, I mean why else would you have dragged me around if you weren't worry?" Erik nodded and looked back at the chess board. He had his hand on his queen and was about to move it to Charles' knight…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Erik looked up at Charles, "Reading my mind, are you?"

"Just now."

"Thank you for the tip but I think I will make my own decision on which piece I will move."

"If you do that I will take your queen." Erik glanced at Charles again then moved his queen to Charles' knight. Charles frowned and moved his other rook to Erik's queen. "You're in check still." It was Erik's turn to frown again. "I told you, I would take her."

"Yeah, well," Erik picked up his king, "my king is still pretty active and I'll just-"

"Once the queen is gone, the king is useless."

Erik put his king back on the black square. He nodded slowly, agreeing with Charles had said. "Why is that?"

Charles shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe he's too depressed to fight, he really loved her you know." Erik chuckled softly, "Yeah, I can see that." He moved his bishop to Charles' rook.

"How long have you known Dakota?"

"Well, I met her when we were seven and she stayed until she was sixteen so, that's nine years and then the last two years, so eleven. Eleven years." Charles chuckled, "Hard to believe, actually. It's been that long."

"Why did she leave?"

"Dakota was born in 1915 and when she was seven she time traveled to 1943. She left her parents behind and in 1959 she found out that they died in 1927, twelve years after she had left. As she told Irene, she doesn't go back and change things or see what happens in her future. She believes that history is on a set course and it shouldn't be tampered with. Going back in time and preventing her parents death is the one and only time she ever broke this rule of her's."

Erik nodded understanding, but in all honesty he had absolutely no way of being able to understand what that must have been like for Dakota. But it surprised him that Dakota would leave behind her parents; did she not love them? But if that was the case then why would she go back to prevent them from dying?

Charles moved his queen to Erik's king, "Check mate." Erik slightly glared at the younger smiling man as he knocked down his king.

"You distracted me."

"I did not!" Charles said, slightly offended.

"You did so!"

"I did not, you asked me about Dakota and I tried to tell you that I was going to win, but you didn't listen."

"Yeah, well…I-I did ask you about Dakota didn't I? Well, you tried to-what? You wanted me to win?"

"Well, I won the past five games-"

"If I win, I want to win because I managed to outsmart you."

"Good luck with that."

"Oh. Oh I see how you are. Think you're smarter, do we?" Charles laughed and soon Erik was laughing too. After a few minutes they calmed down. "Okay. Maybe we should really get some food."

"Yeah, okay." They both got up from the table and headed to the kitchen.

"Hey Erik?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything."

"Yeah sure, just don't get all mushy on me."

* * *

Sean found some fish food for the fish in the rec room. He took it upon himself to name the fish; Aqua, Jade, Amber, Sky, Orangie, and Martin. (Martin was Sean's ugly second cousin and there was this ugly fish in the tank. It seemed fitting.) He tapped on the glass of fish tank.

"Time for food guys," Sean said and shook some of the food into the tank. His fish swam around gulping water and the little bits of food. Sean shook his head, he never understood how fish could live off of little bits of…well, whatever it was in fish food.

"You having fun with your new friends?" a female voice asked. Sean turned, it was Raven.

"Hey, haven't seen you all day. Is Dakota…?" Raven shook her head no. "Oh, well it's good to see you anyways. And yes I'm having fun with my new friends." Sean turned back to his fish. Raven pulled over a chair and sat next to him. They watched the fish swim around for several minutes, watching them shimmer in the water. Raven leaned over to Sean and said, "Now I see why you like these guys so much. They're so mesmerizing."

Sean smiled and kept looking at the fish. Moira came into the rec room and slumped into a chair near the fish tank. Moira took her hair out of her pony-tail and shook her head around. She slipped her high heels off and threw them across the room. Raven looked at the discarded shoes then at Moira.

"Tiring day?" she asked.

"Yeah. Worked all day looking for leads to Shaw. Not a single thing popped up." Moira glanced at Sean staring at the fish tank, "What are you guys doing?"

"We're looking at the fish," Sean answered. Moira gave the red haired teen a funny look, but he missed it because he was, well, looking at the fish. Raven smirked a bit at Moira's expression. Moira looked from Sean to the fish tank back to Sean, then she moved her chair so she was sitting by him. He looked up startled. She glanced at him then stared straight ahead at the fish tank.

"So, what do we do now?" Moira asked.

It was Sean's turn to give her a funny look. "We don't do anything. I just happen to like fish and Raven just happened to come over and likes them, too. This isn't some weird club ritual or anything. This is just having a hobby."

"A hobby?" Moira asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. A hobby. Some people sew, other cook, I like to read about, take care of, and look at fish."

"Looking at fish is not a hobby. Reading about them is but looking at them…"

"It is so!"

"No it isn't!"

"A hobby is something a person likes doing."

"No, a hobby is-"

"You two have some major problems," Alex said loud enough for them to hear him and to stop arguing. "Are you guys gonna hook up? You two seem to have some chemistry." They both turned to glare at him who in turn waved politely back at them. Angel was snickering and Darwin looked like he was on the verge of laughing.

Raven smiled and said, "For once he's right about something."

* * *

Charles and Erik had a very late lunch in the kitchen. Charles stayed in the kitchen and made the two of them some tea. Erik went back to Dakota's room check on her. He went into the room and sat in the chair next to her bed. He glanced at her, still looking very pale. He folded his hands together and waited for Charles. He waited patiently for a few minutes when he heard a moan. He blinked and listened. He heard it again. He glanced at Dakota and she was moaning and mumbling something, but her eyes were still closed.

Erik quick got up from his chair and sat on Dakota's bedside. "Dakota?" he asked eagerly. She mumbled something; he placed his hand on her head. "Come on Dakota, wake up." It was obvious she was having a dream or something, she kept mumbling and moving her head around.

The Dream.

Erik had heard about Dakota's dream a few times before. "Dakota it's just a dream. It's just a dream." He knew how real and scary dreams could be, considering he had been plagued with them for most of his life.

All of a sudden she woke up and shot up in bed, gasping. Erik jumped. Dakota looked around trying to find her bearings then she looked at Erik. He had never been so happy to see her two beautiful colored eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked softly. Dakota, still breathing deeply, shook her head.

"That dream is starting to make me come unhinged, Erik. I'm so afraid t-that something bad is going to happen. I…" she trailed off. She looked down; her eyes suddenly tearing up.

"Hey," Erik said, worry filling his voice, which only seconds ago was fill with relief. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. "It will be okay. Everything will be okay." Dakota wrapped her arms around him, her hands feeling the back of his black turtle neck sweater. She buried her face into Erik's shoulder and let some tears come.

"There is something very wrong with me," she said softly.

"There is nothing wrong with you. You're just having a dream Dakota, it can't hurt you. Dreams are just reality altered by our minds." Dakota sniffed and nodded her head. "You know, I once had a dream that I met the king of Spain."

Dakota lifted her head away from his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really. I was, I don't know, maybe about nine. Anyways, I met the king of Spain and he showed all through his palace. I'd never seen such a beautiful and extravagant looking home. There were paintings on the walls and gemstones engraved into the doors. I, used to, have a pretty vivid imagination. Father always said that I would be a young at heart; someone who always had crazy dreams and would be optimistic…"

Erik trailed off and glanced at the floor. Dakota looked up at him. She placed a hand on his face. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Erik blinked back a few of his own tears. He grasped her hand. He was feeling that urge to kiss her again. And he just might have, had Charles not walked in at that very moment.

"Dakota!" he exclaimed. Erik and Dakota both turned; Erik quick let go of Dakota and stood up. Charles quick set down the tray he had been carrying with their tea and ran to Dakota's side. He hugged her, "Are you alright? How do you feel?" He held her at arm's length to examine her.

She scoffed, "Of _course_ I'm alright. It'd take more than some machine to finish me off." Erik shook his head, you'd never believe that only a moment ago she had been crying. Charles seemed satisfied with Dakota's answer and wrapped his arms around her again. Erik suddenly felt awkward just standing there watching.

"I'll go, um, tell everyone that you're awake," Erik said walking away.

"You do that, dear heart." Erik glanced at Dakota in Charles embrace before heading to the rec room.

Everyone had been relieved to hear that Dakota was fine and even more so when they actually saw her. Dakota was more than satisfied with the attention she got. Hank confirmed that she would be alright. Dakota had the rest of the day to sleep and ready herself for the continuation of the 'epic mutant search'; that's what Sean called it. Everything was back to normal, for the most part.

Erik went to the kitchen for some space away from everything and everyone. He was happy that Dakota was fine, overjoyed actually, but he was torn. Torn between his new found friend and Dakota. He just wanted to be with her but he couldn't take Dakota away from Charles, especially after he saw how Charles was when she was so close to death. How would he be if she left him for Erik?

 _I don't know what I would do without her, Erik. She's my life._ Those words echoed in his head. He couldn't pursue a relationship with Dakota without hurting Charles and he couldn't _not_ pursue a relationship with Dakota without hurting himself. He hadn't wanted to be with anyone in such a long time.

"Hey?" Erik turned, it was Raven. She smiled at him, "I just wanted to thank you for talking to Charles and taking his mind off of things."

"He told you?"

"Yeah." She looked him in the eye and smiled again, then left the kitchen. Erik stared where Raven had been; that girl was almost as difficult to understand as her sister. Why was she being so nice to him?

* * *

Week 2, Day 6:

The trio drove to a little town outside of Langley, called . They asked two more mutants, but neither wanted to join. They decided to head back and officially call it quits when they got back to base. On the way back, though, Charles started to have his now usual headache.

"Everybody wants to rule worl-"

"Dakota could you please stop singing?" Charles asked. Dakota was driving and Charles sat in the seat next to her.

"No. That song happens to one of my favorites. Both versions; the one by that 80s band and the one done by that chick from New Zealand. You know I like both versions, but when that lady sings it; it's just like wow. You know what I mean?"

"I'm honestly not that into music," Erik said from the back seat.

Dakota scoffed, "Talk about a hum drum life. Really? Not into music? What is wrong with you, dear heart?"

"Hey, I'm not much for music, okay? Don't make me seem like I have problem, when I do not."

"Well, you do. According to my definition of 'a problem'."

"Oh, yeah? Well you-"

"Will both of you just be quiet?!" Charles exclaimed, breaking up Dakota and Erik's bickering. Dakota glanced over Charles; odd, it wasn't like him to get so excited like that.

* * *

Week 2, Day 7

The trio told the agent that they were finished looking for mutants; at least for the moment. The rest of the day was spent with everyone hanging out in the rec room. Alex and Darwin continued with their pinball game, Angel, Raven, and Hank sat at a table playing some sort of board game, Sean and Moira were arguing about if watching fish was a hobby, Charles and Erik were playing chess, and Dakota was constantly trying to get a game of poker going.

"Come on! Why wouldn't anyone play poker with me?"

"I'd love to Dakota, but first I need to beat Alex…at…this…game-yes!" Darwin just beat the old record set by Alex. "Try and beat that if you can," Darwin said to Alex, who glared at the other man.

"I'm not playing. Don't ask me," Alex told Dakota without even turning around. Dakota groaned. She shuffled a deck of cards as she walked around the room.

"This is ridiculous."

"You're ridiculous," Erik said as he took Charles' bishop. Dakota glared at him.

"Do you want to play poker?" she asked him.

"No." Dakota threw her hands up in the air. "Why don't you ask Raven?"

"I tried teaching her how to play once at Oxford and it was a total disaster." Raven nodded her head.

"It was. I guess that's one thing I'm not good at." She smiled at Hank who returned it with an awkward smile.

"Yo! Raven, it's your turn," Angel said pointing to the Life board.

"So no one play?"

"I'll play," Sean said and raised his hand.

"Thank you, Sean. See, finally someone will play with me."

"Yeah. But I don't know how to play poker. So, maybe we could play Go-Fish?" Dakota threw the deck of cards in the air. They fell all over Charles, Erik, and Sean. And the chess board. She slumped into one of the chairs.

"Forget it," she mumbled. Charles dusted the cards off of himself while Erik just stared at Dakota.

"You're picking these up," he said pointing to the cards all around him.

"Don't bet on it, dear heart." Sean then started to laugh. Dakota raised an eyebrow at the teen. He stopped.

"Sorry." A moment later…"No, I'm not. That's just too funny." He started laughing again. Moira started to smile. Raven chuckled, followed by Hank and Angel. Darwin joined in as well, and Alex just shook his head. Charles started to laugh too, and Erik was trying very hard not to laugh. Dakota finally broke and started laughing with the rest of them.

"Okay, okay, okay," she said after a while, catching her breath. "Alright you," she pointed to Sean, "sit down and calm down, Red."

"Red?" Sean asked curiously.

"Everyone has to have a nickname," she said with a smirk. Sean smiled. Charles looked at Erik.

"As that fellow said at the end of that movie, 'I do believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'"

"Amen to that Professor!" Sean said lifting his glass of water in the air. Everyone laughed again.

* * *

Thousands of miles away, Shaw's submarine was headed towards Russia. Emma Frost had felt Charles' power when he had used Cerebro, and now she was slightly paranoid that he and the other mutants were coming for them.

"There's nothing on the radar?" she asked Azazel.

"Nothing."

"Sonar?"

"Nyet."

Unsatisfied with his answers she went to talk to Shaw. She walked from the control room to the sitting room on the submarine. The sitting room had a nice elegant feel to it. It had all the comforts of home; even a television set. She pressed a secret button on Shaw's desk which opened a door that led to the back. Shaw was admiring a machine that was giving of high levels of radiation.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked Emma as she walked in. "The reason we exist. We are the children of the atom, my love."

Emma had this multiple times. "We have a situation. The telepath. I shouldn't be able to feel him at this distance. It was like his reach was amplified." Shaw pondered this for a moment.

"They're recruiting?" he asked after a minute.

"It would appear so."

"You go on to Russia. I'll handle them."

"You shouldn't underestimate them."

Shaw laughed. "Worried about me, my love?" He tucked a strand of hair behind Emma's ear. "I'll be able to deal with whatever young inexperienced mutant they throw at me."

"I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about the telepath and Miss Patience."

"Ah, yes. Dakota Patience. The powerful quirky young mutant." Shaw smiled in remembrance of what Emma had told him about the girl. "She has such power. Think about what it would be like if she joined us."

* * *

 **Alright, I'm alive. Sorry for the long overdue wait, but life happened. I'll start typing up the new chapter today. And I'm not doing a 'references' page this time because I just wanted this to be done. (But let me just say, I thought adding in a young Quicksilver would be fun.) Again, sorry about it taking this long. Reviews are welcomed as always. Bye.**


	7. Code Names

Two weeks later…

Everyone, with the exception of Moira, was hanging out in the rec room. They were all doing their 'usuals'. Raven, Angel, and Hank were playing a game, Alex and Darwin were playing pinball, Sean was looking at _his_ fish, Charles and Erik were playing chess, and Dakota was complaining about anything and everything.

"Why do you guys always have to play chess?" she whined; she sat next to Charles, leaning her head on his shoulder. "There are other games you know."

"We know that," Charles said not looking up from the chess board.

Dakota groaned, "Talk about two boring long weeks. You know what the most exciting part of these two weeks was?" Sean turned around, curious to hear her answer. "Feeding Sean's fish! That was the most exciting part of two very _long_ weeks."

"You forgot how Alex tried to cook dinner last Wednesday and almost started the whole base on fire," Sean quipped.

Dakota rolled her head off of Charles' shoulder. "Yeah. I guess that was pretty exciting."

"And hilarious," Raven added from her table.

"Alright, will everyone just drop it," Alex said now facing the whole group. "It wasn't even my fault. It was that stupid oven's fault."

"Blame the oven all you want, dear heart." Dakota stretched her arms over her head. "I'm just glad I'm not the only one who can't cook."

Moira rushed in through the doors. "Hey. Charles, Dakota, Erik there's a meeting in the agent's office in like two minutes. The director is here, along with that Agent Stryker. If you want to come in and help me persuade them to let you guys come and help us find Shaw, then-"

"-then we better go to the meeting right now. If they can stop obsessing over their bloody game, Charles and Erik can go." Dakota got up from the couch, "I'll stay here and watch the kiddies."

Charles and Erik got up too, after they each played one more turn. "Are you sure you don't want to come?" Charles asked. Dakota shook her head.

"You guys go. I'll stay here." She started pushing both of them towards the door. Erik brushed her hand off of him.

"Okay we're going, you don't have to push." She smirked at Erik. "And don't touch our game."

"Won't dream about it." Charles, Erik, and Moira left the room. Dakota locked the door behind them and shouted a small 'yippee'. Everyone glance at her.

"Kiddies?" Darwin asked mockingly.

"Sorry about that. I had to make up something, I thought they would never leave." As she talked, she walked to the wet bar and grabbed out seven glasses. Then she surveyed the back wall for a good bottle of alcohol.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked, running her hand through her black hair.

"I am tired of the most exciting part of my week being almost fires and fish. No offense Red."

"None taken," he said, now standing with the rest of the group, who had migrated over to the wet bar. She grabbed a bottle of some sort of spiced rum. She unscrewed the cap and poured the brown liquid into six of the seven glasses. She poured some raspberry flavored water that she had found into her own glass.

"What's this for?" Darwin asked.

"We are having a party," Dakota said and motioned for the others to take a glass.

"Alright," Angel said, taking a glass. She sat down on one of the couches; Darwin soon had his drink and was next to her. Sean looked at the liquor with a torn expression. He began to wonder at what point had he ended up in a bar that didn't ask people for their ages.

"I'm only seventeen. I can't drink." Alex hit the teen in the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked rubbing his head.

"For being an idiot. When someone gives you alcohol you don't tell 'em that you're underage! That's basic." He took his glass and a bottle of beer and sat in one of the plush chairs. Raven took her drink; Hank declined his and had some of Dakota's raspberry water. They sat on the couch opposite from Angel and Darwin. Sean eyed the last glass.

"Come on, Red." Sean still just eyed the glass. "I wouldn't tell Charles." He looked up at Dakota; she smirked. Sean sighed and finally took the glass and sat down in another plush chair near Alex. Dakota did move Charles and Erik's game from the coffee table to one of the tables in the back. At least there it couldn't get hurt. After a few drinks they all started having some fun.

"We should think of code names," Raven said after a while. "We're government agents now, we should come up with code names. I want to be called Mystique."

"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique," Sean joked.

"Well, tough. I called it." She shifted her form so she looked exactly like Sean.

"Whoa!" Sean jumped back in his chair. Everyone else laughed in amazement. (Though they all knew each other for a little over two weeks, none of them really discussed their powers. And if they did then they never showed them off.)

Raven; in Sean's voice, said, "And I'm way more mysterious then you." Sean sat down his drink and clapped his hands; he was both amazed and shocked. Everyone else clapped too.

"My sister, ladies and gentlemen," Dakota laughed.

"Thank you, thank you," Raven said, bowing from where she sat. "Darwin, what about you?"

"Well, 'Darwin' is already a nickname, and, you know, it sort of fits. Adapt to survive and all. Check this out." He got up from the couch and walked over to the fish tank. Everyone watched as he put his head in the water. A second later he grew gills!

"Whoa!"

"That's cool, man!"

"Alright!"

"That is impressive."

He took his head out of the water and shook off the excess water. Everyone clapped again. "Thank you, thank you," he said, repeating what Raven had said. He pointed to Sean, "What about you?" Sean sat, folded his hands together, and pondered for a moment.

"I'm going to be…Banshee."

"Fitting," Dakota remarked. Sean gave her a small smirk.

"Wait, why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank asked setting his glass on the coffee table. Sean smiled cockily and stood up. He moved all the glasses on the table in a straight line.

When he was satisfied with his work he added, "You all might want to cover your ears." Everyone, with the exception of Dakota, looked perplexed, but they did what they were told. Sean knelt down so he was at the same level as the table. He took a deep breath in and let out a screech. Sean's plan was to shatter the glasses, but somehow he must've lifted his head too high, because instead of shattering the row of glasses he shattered the huge window that had a nice view of the courtyard. Sean stared wide eyed at the, now broken window. Dakota clapped approvingly, and everyone else laughed at the teen's mistake. He shrugged and pointed to Angel. "Your turn."

"Well, my real name and stage name is Angel." She stood up and took off her leather jacket, revealing her backless dress, where everyone could see the tattoos on her back. Darwin whistled. Angel winked at him. Her tattoos moved and came alive taking the form of her wings. "It kind of fits."

"You can fly?" Raven exclaimed.

"Uh-huh." Angel glanced over her shoulder at Raven. "And…" Angel spit a little flaming ball of acid at the statue in the middle of the courtyard. The acid hit the statue on the head and burnt through the first few layers of bronze. Again, everyone laughed and clapped and carried on. She put her jacket back on and glanced at Dakota. "What's your name?"

"Dakota Patience, what's yours?" She smirked. Raven rolled her eyes but looked like she wanted to laugh.

"Can you ever take anything seriously?" Alex grumbled.

Dakota arched an eyebrow at him. "Can _I_ ever take anything seriously? Can _I_? Dear heart, please. I wasn't the one locked up in one of the country's highest security penitentiaries, now was I? Can _I_ be serious? Ha!"

"Thank you, British for the 'Ha!' of the day. But if you don't mind getting back to the actual question…"

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll go by TimeX." Darwin and Hank shared a glance.

"I'll ask this time," Darwin said, then he cleared his throat. "Why do you want to be named after a watch brand?"

"Because one of my powers is super speed."

"Really?" Hank asked, intrigued. Dakota nodded.

"You're all missing the fact that it is only _one_ of her powers," Sean said, before downing the rest of his drink. He was really starting to have a taste for that spiced rum.

"You have more than the three powers?" Darwin asked. Dakota glanced to him, then to everyone else in the room.

"I can sense mutants and their powers, I can heal others, I have super speed, I have this power called the connection, I have some telepathic power, and I can use my speed to break the time barrier." She crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap.

"Wait-you can time travel?" Hank concluded. Sean looked at Dakota with wide eyes. She smirked and nodded quickly. Everyone was amazed.

"So, have you seen the future?"

"Some of it, how do you think I know all those future songs?"

"What's it like?"

"Did you see me?"

"Who's the president then?"

"Have flying cars been invited yet?"

"Wait! Hold it!" Dakota yelled. Everyone quieted down. "Talk about a bunch of loud kids! Jeez! Alright, what's it like? It's just like this only faster paced. No Alex, I didn't see you. Who's the president? Depends on the time frame. And no Sean, I have never seen a flying car in the future."

Sean snapped his fingers and mumbled, "Darn."

Dakota shook her head and adjusted her pearl bracelet. "Hank, what about you?" Hank turned away, slightly embarrassed by being put on the spot like that. He didn't want a code name.

"How about Big Foot?" Alex mocked. Raven turned on him, before Dakota could.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet." Alex glanced over at her, she raised her eyebrows and looked down at his feet. "And yours are kind of small." Dakota swallowed down a laugh, but couldn't help but let a smile shine through. Sean laughed and didn't stop for a while.

"Okay, now," Darwin said in a semi-serious voice. Hank smiled slightly at Raven; his way of saying 'thank you'. She glanced at him and then at her shoes. "Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?" Alex wished he could shrink away or even turn invisible. He did not want to show off his so called 'gift'. He struggled to come up with an excuse.

"It's not…um, I just can't do it. I can't do it in here."

"Can you do it out there?" Darwin asked, pointing to the courtyard.

"Yeah, why don't you do it out there?"

"Come on!"

Then someone started chanting, "Alex! Alex! Alex!" Soon everyone was chanting his name and Alex rolled his eyes. These people weren't going to shut up until he showed them his power. (Sigh.) He sat his bottle of beer on the table and stood up. Everyone cheered.

"That's the spirit!" Darwin exclaimed. Alex didn't even give him a passing glance as he stepped out of the room; via the broken window; and walked to the far right part of the courtyard.

"Get back when I tell you," he grumbled. Everyone stood by the window and leaned out of it so they could see what was happening.

"Get back when I tell you?" Sean asked laughing. Dakota gave him a look that said 'just you wait and see'. Alex prepared himself.

"Get back." Everyone took a step back away from the window, except for Dakota. She glanced back at the others and then went back to looking at Alex. The others took a step forward and were right back where they had started. Alex saw this out of the corner of his eye. He motioned his hand back and said, "Get back," a bit too sternly. Nobody moved. "Whatever."

Three rings of red energy swirled around Alex; he gritted his teeth trying to keep the very minimal control he had on the energy. He then threw the energy rings away from himself. One flew and hit one of the buildings, another skidded right past the broken window everyone was leaning out of. (Everyone, including Dakota, jumped back). But the last one cut the statue in the courtyard right in half. The ends that had been cut were now on fire. Alex looked at the mild destruction he had caused and half excepted everyone to run away screaming.

Instead, Raven and Angel stared clapping and jumping up and down with excitement. Darwin, Sean, and Dakota clapped with less enthusiasm, but still approving. Hank was the only one shell shocked. He just stared at the statue with wide eyes and his jaw dropped. "Shut your mouth." Hank did and turned to see Dakota giving him a look. She turned back to the courtyard.

"Talk about a power that can cause _havoc_ and chaos. I'm impressed," she told Alex as he came back into the rec room.

"That's it!" Sean exclaimed.

"What's it?"

"Alex's name will be Havoc!" Dakota's eyes lit up.

"Yeah! But 'havoc'…with a _k_ at the end instead of a _c_." Sean and Dakota nodded together, happy with their idea. Alex didn't like it.

"Wait a minute. Shouldn't _I_ be the one who comes up with _my_ name?"

"No," Sean and Dakota said in stereo.

"Oh, come on Alex. It's a good name," Angel said, and it was the only time she ever backed up anything that Dakota said. Alex thought for a minute, then finally gave in and agreed he would use the code name Havok.

A few minutes later the party started to become a bit more obnoxious. Raven put a quarter in the juke box; that was near the fish tank; and everyone started dancing. Alex and Darwin moved one of the couches out of the way so there would be more room. Angel half flew, half danced. Darwin later made a bet with Alex and Sean that he would be able to adapt to anything they threw at him. So, they literary threw everything at him, trying to win the bet of $200. Dakota then put on one of her cassette tapes. The first song was 'In the Night' by The Weeknd.

"Hey, I like this song," Sean said, while taking a break from trying to hit Darwin with a baseball bat.

"Yeah," Dakota said, dancing on the couch with Raven. "It's one of my favorites. From 2015 anyways." Hank choked on his raspberry water. "Hank? You alright?" He nodded, embarrassed. "Well, he's taking the time-traveling thing well, isn't he?" Raven smirked and agreed.

Later they changed from listening to 'the epic sounds of the future' (that's what Sean called Dakota's music) back to some of the records that were in the juke box.

"Hey, there are _rec_ ords in the _rec_ room!" Angel laughed.

"Angel, love, are you drunk?" Darwin asked.

"Me? Drunk? No." She hiccupped, and flew backwards into a wall. Everyone laughed.

Hank took of his shoes and used his hand feet to hang from the light in the middle of the room.

"Wowie-wow wow! Hank can literary dance on the ceiling!" Sean joked.

"Hey!" Alex exclaimed.

"Hey yourself," Sean said.

"No, not you. TimeX," he pointed to Dakota. She was still jumping on the couch with Raven.

"That's my new name, don't wear it out."

"I just thought of something. If you're TimeX, then the Professor can be _Professor X_."

"Bloody hell. I do believe that is the first good idea this old chap has gotten," Dakota said, exaggerating her British accent. Raven laughed so hard she fell down. Hank asked from the ceiling if she was alright. She nodded. Sean and Alex continued to throw stuff at Darwin; shoes, bottles, chairs, but Darwin still stood tall; he had adapted to all objects that were chucked his way, by covering his body with black scales. (Alex said they should throw the fish tank at Darwin, but Sean declared that he would die before killing his fish friends.)

"Hey, what's Erik's name?" someone asked after a while. Dakota stood on the couch thinking for a while until her blue eyes lit up again.

"I've got it! I've got it! Bloody best idea ever! Erik's name will be…"

* * *

Moira, Agent Levene, the agent, and Agent Stryker all sat waiting for the director to come back with any new information about Shaw. Moira fiddled with her class ring on her right ring finger. He should have been back by now. Charles and Erik had sat in for the first half of the meeting but were asked to leave during the second half. They had told everyone that now sat around the table, that they were positive that if all of the mutants were allowed to assist Moira and Agent Levene in their mission to take in Shaw, they would prove themselves to be very useful.

Moira just hoped that Shaw was really going to Russia like they thought. The director came back into the room. "We got intel that Shaw is meeting with the Russian Defense Chief in Moscow." He took his seat at the front of the table. "So go ahead. Say it," he told Moira.

She shook her head, "I'm not here to say 'I told you so'. You know why I'm here."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The director went back to flipping the intelligence papers. Moira continued to fiddle with her ring; she hated being ignored like that. A minute later the director glanced back at her. He looked up surprised, as if he thought that she had left already. "Clearance to bring along your mutants?" he asked, mockingly. Moira swallowed down the insult that came to mind and force a gentle smile and nodded.

The director nodded thinking. "Fight fire with fire. It makes sense."

"Wait! You're okay with this?" Stryker intervened. "Sending in a bunch of untrained, unauthorized freaks?" Moira bit her tongue, she very much wanted to stand up and defend them. But she didn't have to; the agent did it for her.

"These freaks are dedicated, hardworking _people_."

Moira came out of the office and headed to where Charles and Erik sat waiting. She told them that they all had clearance. Charles clapped his hands together, "Good! Now let's go tell the others."

Erik had told the group of agents in the meeting that he had wanted the young mutants to join them in Russia, but now that he thought about it, those kids weren't ready for this.

"Charles perhaps, the kids can help us a different time. After they have some real training."

Charles smiled and patted Erik on the shoulder. "Don't worry my friend, they'll be fine." Erik hated being brushed off like that. The two men followed Moira down a corridor that lead to one of the courtyards, from there they could get to the rec room.

"The plane leaves for Russia in an hour," Moira reminded them.

"I'm telling you, these kids are not ready for Shaw," Erik said, not leaving the subject alone.

"I think they're gonna surprise you. They're an exceptional bunch of young people," Charles said, standing up for them. (If only he knew.) They all heard loud music blaring, as they turned into the courtyard.

"What the hell?" Moira asked taking in the now cut in half statue. The three of them marched over to the broken window.

They were met with a crazy site: Raven and Dakota were dancing on the couch, Angel was flying around in a wavy matter, Hank was hanging from the ceiling, Darwin was covered in his protective scales, and Alex and Sean were hitting him with chairs and baseball bats. No one in the room noticed Charles, Erik, and Moira staring at them in both anger and disbelief.

"What are you doing?!" Moira yelled. Dakota turned, and saw the three of them glaring at them.

' _Uh-oh.'_

' _You bet uh-oh!'_

' _Oh, hi Charles!'_

Everyone else saw them too and stopped what they were doing. Sean dropped the chair, Hank dropped back to the floor, Angel stopped flying, Darwin's scales disappeared.

"Who destroyed the statue?" Moira asked, looking not too happy. Sean couldn't help but think that she was even more beautiful when she was angry, but now was probably not the best time to tell her that.

"It was Alex," Hank answered quickly. Alex glared at the guy.

"No, Havok," Raven corrected. "We have to call him Havok. That's his name now. And we were thinking-"

"Yeah, we were thinking," Dakota jumped off the couch and took a few steps towards the three in the courtyard. "You should be Professor X," she pointed to Charles. Moira stared at Dakota like she was crazy. Charles' stern expression did not change. "And you," she pointed to Erik, "should be Magneto." She smiled at him and he just stared at her. She was so pretty and her eyes were filled with wanted approval.

All he could think to say was what Charles had said about the mutants who now stood in front of him. "Exceptional." Dakota's eyes changed to something that resembled confusion. He held her stare and walked away. Moira shook her head and followed him. Charles' eyes scanned over all the young mutants, then focused in on Dakota and Raven.

"I expect more from you." He turned and left. Dakota's gaze dropped to her shoes. She glanced over at the others who didn't say anything and dropped their gazes as well. She looked at Raven, whose expression had guilt laced through it. This just made her blood boil. It wasn't Raven's fault; it wasn't the kids fault. It was hers.

And now Charles, Erik, and Moira thought that they all were a bunch of reckless kids. She sucked in a breath of air and let come out. "You guys wait here." She stepped out of the window and stormed after the three of them.

* * *

A few minutes later, Dakota came back with Charles and Erik in tow and Moira quickly following behind them. None of them were too happy to be brought back to the rec room.

"Dakota, if we are going to go to Russia, then we need to get ourselves ready and prepared," Moira said, as Dakota let go of Charles and Erik and took a few steps toward the rec room.

"'Ready' and 'prepared' mean the same thing," Sean said quickly to Moira. The brunette glared at the red head. Sean nervously smile; why did he say that? Dakota took a few seconds to arch her eyebrow at him; she was wondering the same thing. He shrugged. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Smooth, Sean. Real smooth." She rubbed her head, feeling like she was about to get a migraine, then turned back to Charles, Moira, and Erik. "Are they coming with us?" she motioned her head backwards towards the still silent kids. Erik glanced at Charles.

"We have discussed, that it would be better if they stayed here," Charles said. He still seemed ticked off about the whole thing. Dakota shook her head and chuckled.

"You call Erik making a suggestion, you three seeing a party, and deciding something last minute, _discussing_?"

Charles tried really hard not to glare at her. "Dakota."

"No. No. Don't 'Dakota' me. We had some fun and we should not be penalized for it."

"We are just suggesting that they all get some proper training in before we send them out into possible dangerous situations," Erik explained. Dakota's gaze softened when she looked to him. She nodded.

"Alright. I understand that, but I have the feeling that the reason Charles here, doesn't want them to come is because of the party scene."

"Well, what if it is?" Charles asked, getting tired of this conversation.

"The party wasn't the kid's idea." Charles' eyebrows knitted together confused. "It was mine." Erik rubbed his forehead; he had a feeling that this wasn't going to go well.

Charles looked at Dakota in disbelieve. "What?"

"I…was tired of the event less weeks so, I livened up the night with some music and dancing and…alcohol." She said 'alcohol' in an almost whisper but Charles heard her never the less.

"Alcoh-? What were you-! Some of them are underage!" Charles yelled motioning to Alex and Sean. Dakota flinched at his yell.

"I'm aware of that," she said not meeting his glare. She bite the inside of her mouth.

Charles laughed one of his humorless laughs and ran his hands through his hair. "This is ridiculous and irresponsible, Dakota!"

"Oh, like you have never done anything irresponsible!" she yelled back.

"That is neither here nor there."

Dakota scoffed.

Moira felt very awkward just standing here watching them fight. She felt like was watching a 'Days of Our Lives' episode, filled with drama and fighting. Erik felt like he was intruding in on the couple's argument. Thou he was torn if he should just leave or tell Charles to stop yelling at Dakota. Angel and Darwin glanced at each other.

"Well this is fun," Angel whispered.

"Yeah," Darwin half chuckled.

"I hope _we_ are never like this," she said, still a little tipsy.

"Oh? We're going to get as far as they have?" Angel faced him with her mouth open. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. She tried to say something but instead closed her mouth and smiled back. They held each other's hand as the fighting continued.

Sean felt like he was back home, 'cause Mom and Dad were fighting again. Alex was almost enjoying the 'action'. This was his most exciting part of the previous two weeks. (Not including the party of course.) Hank was listening to what Charles and Dakota were saying but his attention was really focused on Raven, who had her head lowered. She was used to this. Their fighting was nothing brand new. Hank laid his hand on her shoulder.

"You know, let me make this really easy for you Charles. Either they come or I don't come."

"Well, this just got dramatic," Alex mumbled.

Charles shook his head, and Erik could tell that he was just upset with the whole situation. And upset people make irrational decisions. "We'll see you in a few days, Dakota." He spun on his heels and started to walk away.

"What?" Dakota asked, stunned.

"You did make this easy, Dakota. And I guess you're not coming." He held her stunned gaze for a second, and seemed to be regretting his decision, but then he continued to walk away. Dakota was shocked; she really thought that her idle threat would work.

She turned back to the rec room and stepped into the room. The young mutants watched her walk to the coffee table, grab her glass, throw it against the wall, and walk to the wet bar. Everyone in the room jumped when the glass shattered against the wall. Moira eyed Dakota, and felt very awkward. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, I'll just be going back to get my things for Russia." But nobody, not even Sean was listening to her. She took this time to sneak away.

Erik was just as shocked as Dakota. He understood that Charles was upset and even a bit disappointed, but he had no right to yell at Dakota like that. At least Erik didn't think he had the right. He followed in Dakota's footsteps into the rec room. The group of young mutants stared at him as he looked around the rec room. He glanced at the broken glass from the window, then to Sean. "This your doing?" Sean shrugged. He continued walking around the room. "And I assume mister attitude is the one who decided to saw the statue in half?" Alex smirked and took another gulp from his beer bottle.

Erik glanced and then held his stare on Dakota who had her arms crossed and was facing towards Cerebro. He turned back to the kids. "You all better start cleaning up this mess. You think Charles and Moira were upset, wait until the agent sees this."

"Oh man," Sean said. "I never thought of that."

"Yeah, well, you never think of anything," Alex grumbled. Sean made a fist and shook it around.

"How would you like a broken nose?"

"Red, if you get blood on the carpet you clean it up," Dakota said, not looking away from Cerebro. Alex took another gulp of his beer, put it down on the table, and got right in Sean's face.

"You got to be crazy or drunk if you think you can fight me."

"Oh, I don't want to fight you. I just want to belt you one."

Erik rolled his eyes and rubbed his head "Will you both knock it off? Find some sort of truce and just pick up the God damn rec room."

"Jeez, what a grouch," Angel commented.

Erik marched over to where the kids stood. "I have been living off of five hours of sleep every night for the past month. You think Dakota is hard to deal with, you think Moira and Charles are too serious? Well, let me give you all fair warning, you do not want to mess with me, because I'm the worst of them all. So, get to work!"

Everyone quick got to work picking up glasses, moving the furniture back, and sweeping up the broken shards of glass. Erik nodded, satisfied that everyone was working. He walk over to Dakota; she stood, arms crossed, with a new glass filled to the brim with raspberry water. Erik leaned against the window frame near the pinball machine.

Alex glanced over at the two by the window. He whispered to Sean, "Truce for now. I don't want to deal with either of them."

"Agreed. I know how to talk with Dakota but I'm not even sure if there is a way to talk to mister macho over there…Oh!"

"What?"

"Mister Macho! That'll be Erik's nick-name!"

Alex slapped his forehead. Sean thought that the action was hilarious, so he broke into laughter. Alex glared at the red head. "You are impossible."

"No, I'm not," Sean said taking a breath. "But I actually might be a wee bit drunk." Alex grabbed him by the collar of his blue t-shirt and threw him over near the fish tank. After a glare thrown by both of them, they continued to clean up the room.

"So," Erik started.

"So," Dakota repeated.

"What are you drinking?" Erik asked, finally thinking of something to ask.

"Raspberry flavored water," she answered dully. She still hadn't glance at him since he had come over.

"Ah…You have the kids drink alcohol but you drink water, to be what? The good example?"

She sighed, "I already told you, I don't drink. _Period_."

"Well, I still find that to be ridiculous. _Exclamation point_."

"Well, that's your opinion, isn't it? _Question mark. New paragraph._ Wait what the hell am I saying?" Dakota turned to Erik, who laughed at her.

"Welcome back, I was wondering when you would realize what we were saying." He smiled at her, she didn't return it right away.

"Why were we saying punctuation marks at the end of our sentences?"

"Proper grammar?" Erik offered. Dakota glared at him. "I don't know why," he said; Dakota looked out the window again and took a sip of her water. "But you started it." He pointed to her. She almost choked on her water.

"No I didn't," she didn't yell it, but she still had a firm tone to her voice.

"You said 'period' at the end of your sentence first."

"I didn't mean period like punctuation, I meant period like-" She caught his smug grin. He was enjoying her trying to explain herself, _again._ (Groan.) She clenched her teeth and turned to the wet bar. "Never mind, I should have known who I was talking to before I even opened my mouth." She went behind the bar and got her water. Erik strolled over and sat on one of the stools.

"Is there anything good in this bar?"

"Not really," she refilled her glass (though there really wasn't that much to refill, because she took a sip of her already full glass.) "The one good thing about this wet bar is there are no strong guys here to throw tables at us." She smirked, and Erik chuckled.

Her sarcastic, witty, funny self was shining through.

Neither of them noticed that the kids had stopped working and were arching their necks either to see or to hear. Dakota caught some of their movement out of the corner of her eye. She leaned over the bar, inching closer to Erik. "Erik?"

"Huh?" he asked in a soft voice; he had become memorized by Dakota's eyes.

"I think we have an audience." Her eyes darted to her right. Erik followed her eyes and met the eyes of the young mutants.

"Get back to work!" The group snapped back to work after being caught trying to see what was happening between Erik and Dakota. They didn't try again; they were a bit weary of Erik and his outbursts. Not to mention Dakota's infamous outbursts.

Erik shook his head and went back to looking into Dakota's eyes. She smirked at him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." She took a few sips of her water. "I was just thinking that you are pretty good with kids."

"Really?" Erik chuckled finding her comment absurd.

"Yeah, you should be a teacher or something."

Erik scoffed, "Doubtful."

They were quiet for a while, looking into each other's eyes. Both knew what they wanted to say about the other, but neither could find the proper words to express their hidden but obvious feelings. Erik knocked on the bar, almost anxiously. "Well."

"Well." Dakota cleared her throat and looked down at her glass.

"Well, I, uh, should probably go and get ready for…Russia." Erik stood up from the stool. Dakota opened her mouth to protest but then stopped and nodded, disappointed. Erik had so many thoughts and emotions swimming around in his head and he wasn't sure what Dakota could feel with the connection. All he knew was there was an urgent sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. Dread because he, in those few minutes of talking and teasing with Dakota, had come to terms that he was in love with her. Dread because everyone he ever loved left him in some way.

He glanced away from her eyes and started to leave. "Erik," Dakota started. Erik turned back around, perhaps a bit eagerly. Dakota struggled to find her words. "Thanks, for…everything. For helping me get my mind off of…Charles." Erik smiled slightly, and nodded. Then he left the rec room and got ready for Russia.

Dakota felt the same dread Erik had just felt. Dread because she had absolutely had no bloody idea what she was going to do about her sort of maybe feelings for Erik. She stood behind the bar, deep in thought. So deep in thought that she didn't notice Alex smirking at her.

"So, are you two gonna get a room, or what?" That broke her concentration.

"What?" she asked not really hearing him.

Alex sighed, "Are you two gonna get a room, or what?"

She heard him that time. "What? No! Erik and I are strictly friends. I don't even think of him that way." (LIE.) "And even if I did think of him like that, it wouldn't be any of your bloody business anyway!" Alex smiled and chuckled. "Don't you laugh at me! This isn't even remotely funny, dear heart!"

"Oh, really? I find this whole thing to be freakin' hilarious!" He finished his beer and threw his bottle where the kids had collected all the shards of glass. "I find it hilarious that _I_ am the only one is not into someone."

"'Into' someone?" Raven asked, mocking him.

"Yeah. You and the nerd are into each other." Raven and Hank looked embarrassed and didn't look at each other for the rest of the night. "Angel and Darwin here are totally into each other." Darwin glanced at Angel, she glanced back.

"Is that true?" she asked.

"I think so," Darwin said. He thought for a moment. "Yeah! I'm into you." Angel smiled, her teeth showed. Alex motioned his hand to the duo, with a smug smile. Dakota rolled her eyes and downed her water.

"Then we have the Professor who's into Patience who's into the Professor and into Lehnsehrr. It is the start of the perfect love triangle cliché." Dakota glared at the teen who in turn ignored her. "And finally we have the world's most annoying seventeen year old into the world into the hottest CIA chick ever."

Sean's eyes widened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait one flippin' minute. You telling me that Sean likes Moira?" Darwin asked finding this incredibly funny. Sean didn't know what to say.

"I-uh, well, you see-I'm not…Moira is-I don't-"

"Oi! Before Red's cheeks turn as red as hair, let's change the topic."

Sean let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks British. And actually I think I'm going to catch some Zs. So, bye." The red head made a dash for the door and left before anyone could blink. Everyone stood still reminiscing the past three hours.

"Hell of night," Darwin commented. And everyone knew how true it was.

* * *

An hour later Charles, Erik, Moira, Agent Levene, and a large group of trained military forces got on a small black military plane. The plane was really small. There was of course the cockpit where all the flying equipment and scanners were accessible to the two pilots. There were twenty-two seats in the center part of the plane. It wasn't first class, it wasn't coach on an airline, but the seats had cushions on them. That had to count for something. And in the back of the plane was where all the stuff they were bringing; weapons, clothes, boxes of food. (CIA stuff.)

Charles, Erik, and Moira were some of the first people to get on the plane. The pilots came next followed by Levene and the trained forces. Then there was a problem. There were twenty trained forces, two agents, and two mutants sitting in the center part of the plane. A total of twenty-four people. There were only twenty-two seats.

Two of the trained forces were making a big fuss about how they would have to sit in the back with all of the supplies. "What's their problem?" Erik asked Moira.

"There isn't enough room for everyone on the plane. They'll have to sit in the back." The two military men continued to argue with Levene. Levene's eyes glanced over at Charles and Erik, then he left the plane. No more than two minutes later, Levene came back with Agent Stryker.

The white haired man marched up to Erik and Charles; the latter of the two was not paying attention. "Well, it seems to me that there are two perfectly fine seats right here being taken by some freaks." Erik clenched his jaw at Stryker's smug expression. There were many things that Erik wanted to say, but he decided he would not stoop to his level.

"We were here first."

"Well, we need all of these military ops and I would hate to have to call the director of the CIA and tell him that the mission has been cancelled because two non-humans wanted to be a pain." Erik's blood boiled; now all he wanted to do was smash Stryker's head in. Stryker turned to Moira. "This was your idea MacTaggert. And if you can't _control_ them, then I will have no choice but to-"

"But to what? Tell her boss that the mission is cancelled? You have no right to tell any of us what to do!" Erik shouted, standing up. Moira, on any other given day would have loved to see someone call Stryker out on his irrational behavior. But right now, she knew, was the worst time to do so. She already was taking a chance by bringing the two mutants to Russia with her, and if Erik did anything, like I don't know, break Stryker's neck, then she would be fired and never be able to get a job in the government again. That's why when Erik got up, she did as well.

"Erik," she said firmly. He didn't look at her. Instead he continued to glare at Stryker. Moira had no idea how to restrain him; she silently wished that Dakota was there to be witty self and calm him down. Then again, she might have made things worse, then Charles would have to calm everyone down. He was good at that; she often wondered if that was his real power. Speaking of Charles, why wasn't he trying to help her?

Erik really wished glares could kill, because Stryker would be dead by now. He really wanted to finish and win this battle, but the grip on his arm was a sign that Moira was growing anxious. Besides this was his chance to finally get Shaw and he couldn't kill him if the mission was cancelled. He tore his arm from Moira and straightened his leather jacket. He never took his glare away from Stryker as he said, "Come on Charles. Apparently we are not good enough to sit on half broken chairs."

Charles, for the first time, looked up. "What?" he asked, confused. Stryker laughed; Erik turned to Charles, who flinched away from Erik's glare. Charles had been replaying the evening's events in his head and in turn shut everything else out so he could concentrate. He had absolutely no bloody idea what was going on.

Erik shook his head in anger at Charles' oblivion to what was happening. Stryker laughed harder, "How did you manage to become a professor, anyways?" Charles turned pink with embarrassment and opened his mouth to say something.

"Never mind," Erik snapped quickly. He walked by Stryker, shoving him with his shoulder in the process, and walked to the back of the plane. Charles got up and followed him.

"Why do we have to sit with the supplies?" Charles asked.

"I'll tell you later," Erik said through gritted teeth. Charles lowered his head; boy he was on a roll today. Erik wasn't so much mad at Charles, he was just irritated that Charles hadn't been paying attention so he could back him up. They found some crates in the back of the supplies to sit on. Erik sat down on the uncomfortable crate and crossed his arms. Charles sat down on one next to him. They were quiet until after the plane took off.

"I'm sorry for whatever it was that I did to upset you," Charles said. Erik chuckled and rolled his eyes; so much like him to apologies when he really didn't do anything.

"You didn't do anything. It was that Stryker guy." A minute passed. Erik scoffed, "You know we don't even need those military trained forces, or whoever the hell they are. You, me, Moira, and the pilots would have been enough." Erik went on a five minute rampage of talking. And Charles really tried to listen, but his mind wondered. "And the whole situation is just…" Erik noticed Charles' eyes staring down at the plane floor and figured he wasn't paying attention again. He cleared his throat.

Nothing.

"Hey, Charles?"

Nothing.

"Chaarrlles," he said in a sing songy voice.

Nothing.

Erik sighed. Then he turned to the younger man and said, "You know, I'm thinking about getting a _cat_ , when this is all over with."

Charles' eyebrows knitted together, confused.

"Yeah, and I'll name him Mr. Fuzzy."

"What?" Charles asked, looking at him like he was crazy. Erik smiled.

"Welcome back."

"Please tell me that was a joke," Charles said, still giving him a funny look.

"Yes, it was a joke."

"Okay, good." Charles rubbed his temple, "You had me concerned for a moment." Erik smirked and hit him on the arm.

"What's with you?"

"What do you mean?" Charles asked, rubbing the spot where Erik had hit him.

Erik sighed, "I mean, you're having some trouble paying attention."

"I'm just thinking," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I can see that," Erik said, the annoyance returning to his voice. Charles ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his watch on his wrist.

"Look, I know. I should have let Dakota and the kids come. And I know I never should have lost my temper like that. There are no excuses for what I did." Charles had blurted the whole thing out so fast, that it threw Erik for a loop. He shook his head after a minute; the guy never ceased to amaze him. He was the only man he knew who would feel guilty after asserting his opinion.

It showed that Charles had a strong moral character. And that he could become easy prey to anyone who didn't have any moral character.

"You talked to her before we left," Charles said, bringing Erik back into reality. "What did she say? How was she?"

"Disappointed," Erik said before he could stop himself. Charles lowered his head again. Erik smacked his forehead.

' _Great. I'm suppose to try and make him not feel any guiltier then he already is. So, what do I do? I tell him his girlfriend is disappointed in him. (Sigh).'_

Erik shook his head again and had the sudden desire for a hard stiff drink.

' _How was she? Her usual self after a while. She was witty. Sarcastic. Funny. Charming. Beautiful.'_

Charles' head popped up.

' _Oh hell. Was he just reading my mind?'_

Charles didn't say anything the rest of the flight to Russia which made Erik assume that he had.

* * *

It was midday when the plane got to Russia. There was an old looking truck waiting for them. The military forces stuffed into the back of the truck, the two pilots stayed and guarded the plane, Moira and Levine got into the driver's seat and passenger's seat; both of them changed their clothes to look like they were poor Russian farmers. And Charles and Erik managed to find seats in the way back of the truck.

They hadn't talked since the very beginning of the flight. Erik began to worry a few hours ago that Charles now knew everything and that their friendship was now ruined. It was funny how it was that worry that prevented him from telling Dakota about his feelings. But at the moment he just wanted to make sure that he still had a brother. Friend. To make sure he still had a friend.

They drove for about a half hour when the truck suddenly stopped. The truck had broken down.

"Why don't we take a look around?" Erik asked getting up not waiting for Charles' reply. He opened the back door and stepped out onto the dirt road. Charles quickly followed him.

"Erik, I don't think that we should go site seeing at this present time." Erik didn't listen. He walked alongside the road heading the direction that they had been going. Charles mumbled a 'bloody hell' and was soon right next to Erik. "What if someone sees us?"

"You're a telepath." That was the only answer Erik gave. They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Erik turned to the left. Charles followed him into a small clearing that many types of grasses growing.

"Erik, we really should get back to the truck."

"It was obvious they don't know what they're doing. I am not going to sit in a crowded truck with a bunch of _humans_ who do not like me when I could be out here talking with my friend. So," he walked into the field and motioned for Charles to follow. Charles contemplated for a moment and then followed him.

* * *

Thirty-four minutes later…

Charles and Erik were sitting down in the field talking. Just talking. Not about Dakota or Shaw or the future, just talking. Talking about the weather, which was sunny and beautiful. Talking about Agent Stryker. Talking about Charles' dream.

"I want the school to big. Big enough to have lots of children but not too big that I don't know where everyone is. That's why I decided that if I ever do decide to teach I will refurnish my house into a school. Can you imagine it Erik? A school for mutants, where they don't have to be afraid to show off their abilities."

Erik sat with one leg against his chest and the other one down. "How big is your house?"

"Well, it is quite big. I don't the diameters or anything like that." Charles sat cross-legged.

"Take a guess."

"Well, oh I don't know. It's not like a shoe or something that I can just move my hands apart," Charles moved his hands to be about a foot apart, "and say 'it's about this big.'"

Erik smirked at Charles demonstration. Suddenly the wind picked up and the sun went under some clouds. Both men looked up at the now cloudy sky. "It's kind of cold without the sun," Charles said. Erik nodded.

"Remind me to get my jacket and cap from the truck."

"Well, if you brought your jacket with you, like me," Charles first motioned to his jacket then to himself with some sort of pride. "Then you won't be so cold in your thin long sleeved shirt." Charles smiled and put on his jacket. Erik shook his head.

"Why do you have so many layers on?" he blurted out.

"What?"

"You have a long sleeved button down shirt on, over that you have a black sweater, and now you have on that black coat."

"I wanted to be warm. I knew it would be cold," Charles said defending his layers.

"How did you know it would be cold? Because last time I checked the weather cannot have its' mind read."

"Have you ever heard of a weather report?"

"And black. Why black? It's so unlike you. It's…well, dark and depressing."

"Don't be like Dakota and pick on my clothes."

Erik laughed, "She spends so much time picking on my clothes, I guess I never thought about her picking on your clothes. Does she?"

Charles blinked then started cracking up. He rubbed his forehead, "You have no idea." Erik smirked and chuckled.

Moira came running up to them. "There you are! I didn't know where you two went." They both got up. "The truck is fixed, we can keep going." Charles and Erik shared a glance then followed Moira back to the truck.

Erik got on his brown leather jacket and his navy blue cap. The truck continued down the road. Most of the military forces were asleep from sheer utter boredom. "See? Aren't you glad that we went into that field instead of sitting in here?"

"Alright, alright. You were right." They sat down in their spots in the back. Erik was relieved that they still were friends, he had been so worried that he had ruined it because of the slip of a thought. He had told Charles that he could get an ulcer from worrying, when really he should have warned himself.

"Erik?"

"Huh?"

"Thanks for listening to me ramble."

Erik smirked, "The pleasure was all my mine."

Charles grinned and then added, "And please don't pick on my clothes again." Erik saw an opportunity.

"Would Dakota approve or disapprove of the fingerless gloves?" Erik pointed to the gloves that Charles wore.

"Oh, shut up!"

Erik laughed.

* * *

The truck was literary ten minutes away from the Russian military retreat where Shaw was supposed to be. Charles and Erik sat waiting for the truck to get there when they heard a knocking on the panel behind them. They both turned and raised it so they could see Levene and Moira.

"We got a problem," Levene said.

"What?"

"I'm so sorry. This wasn't on the map," Moira said. Charles looked out the little window and saw that the truck was heading towards a roadblock that was crawling with guards. Levene pressed the brake slowing down the truck.

"No matter what happens, act normally," Charles said, officially taking charge. "I'll take care of this, all right?" He lowered the panel back over the window. He addressed the military ops, "Now listen to me, they will open those doors in a few moments, and when they do, _do not shoot anyone_." Erik had no idea what Charles planned on doing but he hoped that _he_ knew what he was doing.

They all heard the truck door slam shut. The ops turned their guns to the doors. "Easy, easy. Take it easy, chaps." Charles stood up and held two fingers to his temple. Erik could sense the metal guns outside of the truck. He prepared himself for a fight. The doors swung open. There stood Levene and a young Russian guard. Levene looked confused and the guard looked bored.

Someone asked in Russian, "Anything back there?"

The guard answered, "Nothing. It's empty." Erik breathed a sigh of amazement. Charles kept his fingers on his temple as Levene asked if they could go. The guard said they could as they both shut the doors. Charles sighed and sat back down.

Erik still amazed, patted Charles' leg. His way of saying 'good job'.

* * *

Levene, Charles, Moira and Erik all laid on their stomachs, looking through binoculars at the retreat. Then they all saw a helicopter. They assumed that Shaw was on it. They watched it land; Emma Frost got off, alone. The guards let her through the barricade. Erik put down the binoculars.

"Where's Shaw?" he asked; the revenge filled man coming through.

"I don't know," Charles said. Erik turned to him, trying not to glare at him. Charles bit his lip thinking. "But if she's a telepath and I read her, she'll know we're here." Charles let out a breath and put two fingers to his temple again. "Let me try something else." He closed his eyes in concentration. Erik and Moira went back to looking through the binoculars. They watched as one of the guards stationed at the door watched Frost and the Russian general go inside the retreat.

Charles shook his head, "He's not coming." He dropped his hand from his head and the guard snapped back to his place. "So, what now, boss?" he asked Moira.

"Now, nothing. We're here for Shaw. Mission aborted."

"The hell it is," Erik said starting to get up.

Moira, who was the closest to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. "Erik," she said in a stern voice.

"She's his right-hand woman," he pointed to the retreat where Frost currently was. "That's good enough for me."

Moira officially told herself she was surrounded be crazy people. "The CIA invading the home of a senior Soviet official. Are you crazy?"

He smirked, "I'm not CIA." He tore his hat off and threw it to Charles. "Hold that for me." Then he got up and started running.

"Erik!" Charles tried to grab him over Moira but he couldn't reach him. All he was left with was Erik's cap. He swore under his breath.

Charles, Moira and Levene watched through the binoculars as the barbed wire around the barricade come to life and attack the four soldiers who stood watch. The two guards who watch the retreats entrees saw this to and went to investigate. Erik ran through the barricade, motioning for the gate to open. The guards saw him and raised their weapons. Erik threw out his hands and pulled their weapons towards him. They were both surprised and were dragged to the ground. One was knocked out from hitting the ground. The other one started to get up as Erik ran by. He kneed him in the face. The guard grunted and fell to the ground. Erik then slowed to a brisk pace to catch his breath, as he walked inside the retreat.

"He's gonna to start World War III single-handed," Levene spat.

"We have to do something," Moira said, desperation starting in her voice.

"Like what? We're moving out," Levene called to the ops behind them.

"You can't!" Charles exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Watch me." Levene got up and started getting the troop together. Charles' mind was racing. He grabbed Moira's arm, she looked at him.

"I'm sorry. I can't leave him." He grabbed Erik's cap and ran the way Erik had gone not two minutes ago. He had absolutely _no idea_ what he was doing what so ever. All he knew was he had to help Erik.

He ran by the barricade and saw the young soldiers panting and crying for help. He should keep running. He should catch up with Erik. But these boys…He stopped running and went back to the guards. One had the barbed wire wrapped around his whole body; it was cutting him every time he moved. Which was a lot considering he was scared out of his mind.

"For God's sake, Erik," he mumbled looking at these poor frightened men. He knelt down to them. "Uh, be calm." Then he said it in Russian, "Be calm. Forget my face." The men calmed down and then fell asleep. That was all he could do. He continued running.

Everywhere he went inside the retreat there were knocked out soldiers and their guns were ripped apart. "Erik?" he whispered. _'Erik?'_

' _Charles? Look, I know what you're going to say, but I'm getting Frost and that's that.'_

' _Fine. But where are you?'_

' _In the retreat.'_

' _No! I meant where are you in the retreat?'_

' _Why does that matter?'_

' _Because I'm in here too, and I'll help you, but I can't do that if I don't know where you are.'_

'…'

' _Erik?'_

' _You get out of here right now! It's dangerous!'_

' _You don't think I know that?'_

' _Leave Charles. I can handle this myself.'_

' _Erik, please, don't tell me what to d-'_

Charles suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and was pushed to the floor. He had been concentrating so hard on trying to figure out where Erik was that he hadn't realized that a guard had come up behind him. He had hit Charles in the back of his neck with his pistol and pushed him to the floor.

Charles' head was spinning. He groaned. _'Charles? Are you there? What happened? Charles?'_

' _Erik, I could really use some assistance here.'_

' _What is it?'_

' _Um, I…'_ The guard grabbed Charles by the collar of his jacket and pinned him against a wall. He started yelling at him in Russian. Charles only knew a handful of Russian words, so he caught words like 'who' and 'trespassing' and 'death' and 'intruder'.

"Now, let's talk about this," Charles said nervously. Suddenly the guard was thrown off of him and hit a wall. His gun disassembled its self. Erik stood about five feet away and had his arm pointing to where the guard had fallen. Charles breathed a sigh of relief, Erik had saved him.

Erik ran over to Charles, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he answered rubbing his aching neck. "He just hit me in the back of the neck. Nothing too serious."

Erik's worried expression faded, "Good. Now…" Erik shoved him against the wall.

"Um, ow."

"What were you thinking? Coming in here. You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"Well, I didn't killed, did I?"

"Only because I was here."

Charles took a deep breath and let it come out slowly. "Let's just go and find Miss Frost. She's not far away."

Erik glared at him. "You just want me to focus on something else so I won't continue yelling at you."

"Well, yeah." Erik sighed and rubbed his forehead. "But if we don't go now, the guards could inform the general that two men broke into his retreat and are taking down his men. Then we both will be in danger of an army of reinforcements."

"…I hate it when you make since."

Charles smiled and shyly said, "I brought your hat." He held it out to Erik who yanked it out of Charles' grip. The two continued to go the way that Erik had come from. They turned down a corridor and down another one to their right. "Quite a beautiful place, actually," Charles said looking around at all the decorations on the walls and ceilings. Erik didn't look; he was determined to find Frost. He just hoped she knew where Shaw was, because of present time they had no other leads.

"By the way, how did you find me?" Charles asked as they briskly ran down the hall.

"I started back the direction I came when I first heard you. When I couldn't hear you any more, I ran. Are they nearby?"

"Um, yes. Turn here," Charles ran to the right and Erik followed. There were a set of doors up ahead; they burst through them.

* * *

Emma jumped at the sudden sound of the doors opening forcefully. Two men had ran through the doors. She recognized the two as being Erik Lensherr, the man who attempted to kill Shaw over a month ago, and Charles Xavier, the telepath who she had never met but sensed him many times. They both looked from her to the general, who was sitting on his bed, kissing and holding air.

(She was good at seduction, but she rarely ever actually went all the way with those she seduced. And she would have to if she wasn't a telepath.) Charles and Erik both glanced at each other, as they caught their breath from running.

"Nice trick," Charles told Emma. She looked between the two and from what she could read, they were here for her. Her concentration on the general slipped as she silently read the two men's minds. The general, now out of his trance, saw Charles and Erik. Emma smiled at him. He said a few things in Russian and pulled out a gun.

"Go to sleep," Charles raised his hand. The general's head fell back and then he was in a deep sleep. Emma stood up and transformed her skin into its diamond form. Charles held two fingers to his head and tried to break down her barriers. She chuckled.

"You can stop trying to read my mind, sugar." She went inside his mind easily and concentrated. Charles grimaced in slight pain. He had stronger barriers then she thought. "You're never going to get anything from me when I'm like this." Charles' hand dropped away from his head. Erik moved slightly towards her. Emma knew that there was no way out, but she was going to try.

She ran to the table in the middle of the bedroom and tried to climb over it and continue running. However, both men easily grabbed her from the table and drug her back away from the door. They threw her against the metal bed frame. Her hands were suddenly restrained by the bars of the bed frame.

"So, then, you can just tell us," Erik said. "Where's Shaw?" The bed frame moved again to insure she couldn't move. She glared him, then tried to free herself from the bed. Erik's patience was growing thin.

A metal bar was wrapped around her neck. She gasped; she could barely breathe. "Erik," a wide eyed Charles mumbled. Had she not been being choked to death, she would have found Charles' frightened expression amusing.

She didn't say a word. Erik's grip on the bar around her neck tighten. "Erik that's enough," Charles said, watching Emma's pained expression. Erik shook his head, that no it wasn't enough. The bar grew so tight that she officially couldn't breathe. The diamond skin around her neck was starting to crack and it would only be a short while before the bar broke her neck.

"Erik that's enough!" Charles yelled, growing anxious that he would see his friend kill someone right in front of him. Erik, whose eyes were those of a mad man's, blinked and then slightly nodded. The metal bar was released.

Emma took a deep breath and her diamond skin disappeared. She had begun to feel light headed, from the lack of oxygen, which is why most of her mental barriers were down. After catching her breath she looked up to glare at Erik. So did Charles.

"All yours," Erik said, motioning to Emma. He causally walked over to table on the right side of the room. He grabbed a glass and started making himself a drink. "She won't be shifting into diamond form again. And if she does, just give her a gentle tap."

Charles keeled down in front of her and held his hand to his head. She smiled smugly; Erik sat down in one of the fancy chairs around the table. He took a sip of his drink and watched Charles read Emma. His eyes moved quickly and then they widened. He left his hand drop.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Emma asked. Charles gave her a leveled glance and then turned to Erik.

"This is worse than we previously imagined." He addressed Emma, "We're taking you with us. The CIA will want to question you themselves."

"Oh, I doubt it. They have bigger things to worry about right now." Both men looked confused. "You know, if you really wanted to protect them," Emma tried to adjust herself so she was more comfortable. "You shouldn't have left them and painted a big red target on their backs."

"What are you talking about?" Erik asked.

"Your recruits."

Erik's heart skipped a beat; Charles' eyes grew wide.

"I hope that those inexperienced kids will enjoy meeting Shaw. He seemed to be looking forward to meeting them."

* * *

Darwin and Alex continued their pinball machine 'tournament'. It was Alex's turn and he was beating Darwin's old score; at this rate he would beat him by a landslide. "Jesus, man, you are killing me!"

"Don't beat yourself up. I've had a lot of spare time."

Raven and Angel sat next to each other on one of the couches; Hank, Dakota and Sean sat across from them on the other couch. The rec room was put back together; the agent had ordered a new window and it had been put in that morning. It had been officially been one day since the crazy party had happened. And though she was good at hiding it, Dakota was still sulking.

"Hey, British, keep this up and we'll have to throw you out of our club."

"What club?" Dakota asked looking at the red haired teen to her right.

"The, um…well, it doesn't have a name yet." Dakota rolled her eyes. "But it's the club. The club with all of us young mutant kids."

"I'm not that young."

"How old are you?" Hank asked, from her left.

"I'm twenty-five."

"Give or take," Raven added, smiling.

"Thank you, sister dear heart, give or take."

"Give or take? Why, don't you know?" Sean asked, innocently enough.

"Of course I know! I just…well, a true lady never tells her age."

"Fortunately, you're not a lady," Angel said, picking up her drink. Everyone gawked at her and Dakota just glared at her.

"Speak for yourself, dancing girl." It was Angel's turn to glare at Dakota.

"I have a question for you," she said.

Dakota raised her eyebrows, "Oh, you do, do you? What is it?"

"What's with the hat?" She eyed Dakota's hat. (Dakota had put her hair into a bun and was wearing a blue knit hat. It matched her blue blouse.)

"Don't like it?" she asked, adjusting it on her head.

"It's just not what we're used to seeing you in. And it's just something, that I don't personally like," Sean said. He put his foot up on the coffee table. Dakota turned to him.

"And what if _Moira_ wore a hat like that and she asked you what you thought?"

"Okay, why is Moira asking Sean for clothing advice?" Raven asked.

"This is theoretical. Shush!"

"You're saying that he would say he liked the hat if Moira wore it because he likes her?" Hank asked, putting the pieces together. Dakota smiled and put an arm around Hank's shoulder.

"This is why he is the smart one."

"I would not say I liked the hat only if Moira wa-"

"Oh, yes you would, Red!"

"No, I wouldn't. I don't have to take this abuse." He crossed his arms and turned away from Dakota. She smirked.

Two agents walked through the courtyard and right by their window. One of them stopped walking. "Oh, I didn't know the circus was in town." Everyone turned to the window. "Hey, come on, honey," he pointed to Angel. "Give us a little…" he flapped his hands around like he had wings.

She just blinked and shook her head. "No? Come on, let's see the foot." He looked to Hank, "Come on Big Foot let's go." Hank's eyes dropped to his feet. "No, again? Come on! How about you speedy girl? Show us your power." Dakota bit the inside of her mouth and pinched the bridge of her nose. She then placed her hands on her knees and gave the smug agent her best fake smile.

"You want to see what I can do?" she asked in mock surprise, like no one ever wanted to see what her ability was. The smug agent nodded; the other one just glared at his partner. "Well…"

Suddenly she was a blur and was no longer sitting in between Hank and Sean. "Whoa! Where did she go?" She was behind him. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Then she socked him one in the jaw.

"Oh!" Sean exclaimed. Raven slightly smiled. Hank stared at the agent who fell against the window, rubbing his jaw. Dakota gave the smug agent a leveled glare and walked away.

He gave a dirty look to Dakota. "What's the hell your problem?!" Dakota strolled away, as if nothing happened, and went back into the building. The not so smug agent glared at the mutants, then he and his partner left. As they left he mumbled, "Bunch of freaks."

Dakota walked into the rec room, rubbing her hand. "Sometimes I surprise myself. Who knew that jerk's face was so hard." She walked behind the wet bar and grabbed so ice.

"You shouldn't have done that," Hank said.

"Oh, yes I did." She had a few ice cubs wrapped in a piece of cloth and used that as a make shift icepack. She walked to one of the tables and leaned against it, while icing her fist. Angel still seemed perturbed about the two agents.

"They were just guys being stupid," Raven reassured.

"Guys being stupid, I can handle. Okay? I've handled that my whole life." Angel had a new spark in her eye; a spark filled with anger, resentment, and rebellion. "But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off than the way these ones stare at me."

Raven paused. "At us." Angel turned her head. She felt like she had found people who understood what she was going through, but it wasn't in her nature to open up and tell her whole life story to just anybody who understood. Not even to Raven, and she very well could be her best friend. But maybe to Darwin; she had told him a lot about her life, though she avoided the majority of her stripping career.

There was a loud thud, as if something fell on one of the buildings' roof. Angel and Raven looked up, Hank and Sean sat up straight trying to hear, Dakota suddenly had a blinding headache and stabled herself by grabbing hold onto the table, Alex wasn't paying attention, and Darwin's head snapped up with attention. "What was that?" he asked no one in particular. Darwin craned his head to try to hear. "I don't know," he answered his own question. "Something doesn't feel right." He left Alex, who scored one more point and then followed him. The four on the couches got up and went to the window, with the view of the courtyard. Alex and Darwin were soon there as well and they all tried to listen.

Dakota cradled her reeling head. _'Where the bloody hell did this headache come from?'_ Just when she thought the pain couldn't get any worse she felt a stabbing pain in her head. She fell into one of the chairs. She laid her head on the table and tried to think calm thoughts so maybe she could heal whatever the heck was wrong with her. Instead she got a series of visions.

' _The powerful quirky young mutant. She has such power. Think about what it would be like if she joined us.'_

' _Your recruits. I hope that those inexperienced kids will enjoy meeting Shaw…'_

' _Riptide, you destroy that installation that Emma mentioned. I will go in and track down the mutants myself. Oh, and Azazel? Kill every human you find.'_

Dakota raised her head, the pain was gone and her mind was now clear. She took a few breaths and she knew exactly what was going to happen. "Son of a bitch." She jumped from the chair and ran over to the group of young mutants still huddled by the window. She leaned in close to the window herself and looked up. There was something, very small blocking out some of the moonlight.

"What is that?" Darwin whispered.

Dakota knew. "Oh, God."

A second later the agent was dropped by the teleporter and fell to his death. He landed right in front of the rec room window. Everyone jumped and took a few steps back. Angel and Raven screamed then covered their mouths. Then three more men were dropped; then three more; then five more. Everyone in room gasped and backed farther away from the window. Except Dakota; she was still trying to see what was happening.

"What the hell is going on?" Alex yelled.

"Azazel," Dakota mumbled.

"What?"

"Azazel! He's a mutant who works for Shaw. He's coming here now." She turned towards the frightened mutants. "We have to get out of here _NOW_." A bunch agents ran into the courtyard with automatic guns. One of them banged on the window.

"Get back! Get back! Do not leave that room. We're under attack!" Dakota would have rolled her eyes and gave him a 'no freaking kidding' look, had the circumstances been different. Azazel appeared out a nowhere in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone in the rec room yelled for the agents to turn around and shoot. He turned and did just that. "Shoot! Shoot!" he yelled and bullets went flying towards Azazel, who easily disappeared.

Everyone ran and jumped behind the couch. Dakota ran over and tripped over Sean. Darwin was the only one standing up because he was trying to insure that none of them would be shot. Azazel teleported in front of one of the agents and turned his gun so he shot directly at the mutants. Everyone ducked and got closer to the floor. Then they all started when they heard something behind them. They looked out the opposite window and saw that a giant tornado was heading towards Cerebro. It completely engulfed it.

Dakota pulled on Darwin's arm; he knelt down. "Get them out of here. I'll take care of the teleporter." Darwin went to protest but Dakota held up a finger. "No arguing. Just go."

She stood up; Raven went to grab her. "What are you doing?" she yelled over the gunfire.

"Doing what I do best." She took off her knit hat and took her hair out of its bun. She shook her head, messing up her hair in the process. She threw her hair out of her face and said, "Now go!" Then she was a blur.

 **Okay that's done. So tell me what you think and all that jazz. I'll start Chapter 8 when I get a chance. But I have a request for all of my readers, reviewers, and followers:**

 **What should the name be for Chapter 8? I have four possible choices; they are:**

' **A Weakness'**

' **Hostage Situation'**

' **Shaw's Price' and**

" **Join Me".**

 **I want feedback people, so which of these titles do you want? Hope to hear from you soon. Bye. ;)**


	8. Join Me

"What are you doing?" Raven shouted, when she noticed that her sister had gotten up. (All that went through Raven's head was that Dakota would get shot if she didn't take cover and stopped acting like a crazy person.)

"Doing what I do best," she said with a causal, but cocky, voice. She discarded her knit hat and undid her bun in one fluid motion, letting her hair shake out into a wavy, curly mess. "Now, go!" And then she was a blur.

* * *

Exactly five seconds after Dakota disappeared, all of the thirty agents who were in the courtyard were knocked, or rather, thrown to the ground. Azazel appeared behind of group of agents trying to find their bearings and get up on their feet. The teleporter's eyes scanned the scene before him; his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"The courtyard is secure." He spun around and saw Dakota standing a few feet behind him. She was speaking to someone over a walkie-talkie. "No more agents are needed," she glared at him and then threw the talkie to the ground. She stood to full height and looked down her nose at him. "This all you got?" she asked sarcastically, looking around the courtyard. A second later, Azazel's confused expression turned to a creepy smirk.

 _This_ was the moment that Darwin decided was the best time to get the heck out of there. "Let's go!" he shouted. He helped Angel and Raven up. With his right arm around Angel's waist and his left hand grasping Raven's wrist, he took off running towards the door. Hank, Alex, and Sean were soon close behind.

"We can't leave her!" Raven objected.

"She can fend for herself!" Alex shouted back. Though Raven had mixed feeling about this whole situation, she realized the truth in Alex's words. So, she took her wrist back from Darwin and ran without being dragged. The group ran throughout the base, zigzagging through the halls trying to navigate their way to the exit of the base.

After two _full_ minutes of running, Sean thought that he would collapse. His lungs were burning and he was practically wheezing. For being a skinny kid, he had never been very energetic. He slowed to a steady jog and then to a slow paced walk. Then he stopped all together and leaned against the wall, trying desperately to catch his breath.

Meanwhile, the group got farther ahead of him.

He didn't know what possessed him, but Alex looked over his shoulder and noticed that the red head had stopped. He cursed under his breath, and skidded to a stop. He turned and ran back to where the seventeen year old stood. "Are you serious, man? This is no time to sit and have a break!" He grabbed Sean's arm and pulled him down the hall.

Sean shook his head, "I…can't…breathe…"

"What are you, an asthmatic?"

"No. I'm…just not…energetic."

"How is a skinny kid like you not able to run a marathon?"

"Cruelties of life?" Sean offered. Alex sent a glare his way and continued half running, while pulling Sean along. "No-no. Don't make me run," Sean whined.

"Come on!"

"Why did Dakota knock those agent guys down?" Sean asked, changing the subject completely.

"What? Oh, I don't know. Knowing Patience, she _might_ have a good reason. Now, seriously, let's go. The others are way ahead of us and-"

An explosion boomed and rocked the base off of its concrete foundation. Alex and Sean both fell against the walls. It then became quiet; eerily quiet. Alex was quick to get back on his feet; Sean just slide to the ground. He pushed his red locks out of his face and let out a shaky breathe.

"What the hell was that?" Alex asked, looking down the hall where the sound of the explosion came from.

"I don't know," Sean whispered; he wasn't handling all of this, so-called "action" very well.

"What?"

"I don't know!"

"Don't yell at me!" The two were quiet; blond teen glaring at red head teen and vica versa. After a while, Alex let out an exasperated sigh and said more calmly, "Okay, we can't stay here. We have to catch up with the others."

"Are you taking charge?" Sean asked, almost sarcastically.

Alex's calm tone didn't falter, "Yes." Sean ran his hand through his unruly hair again and then nodded. He braced himself against the wall and got himself up. He prepared himself to run again, however neither him nor Alex had to. Darwin followed by Angel, Raven, and Hank came running towards them.

"What-?"

"Get back to the rec room!" Darwin yelled as he rushed past the two and they were soon running at the same pace as the rest of them.

"Dumb question: Why are we going back to where we started? And to where the bad guys are?" Sean asked.

"Agents, in the way, won't let us pass, explosion, fire everywhere…" If Darwin had anything else to say, he didn't say it, nor would he have to; Alex and Sean got the picture. The frighten group of kids sprinted back to the rec room and literary slid to a stop. They all stood in the center of the newly broken rec room, and caught their breath. They watched the cyclone continue to rip apart Cerebro.

Suddenly, Azazel teleported into the room and threw Dakota from him. She crashed into the pinball machine; it flipped over along with her. The kids gasped; Azazel disappeared and went back to the agents in the courtyard. Dakota's hair was a mess of wavy curls that covered her face and the bruise that was starting to darken on her left cheek.

"Ow," she mumbled.

"Dakota! Are you alright?" Raven exclaimed and started to where Dakota was.

"Well, what in the heck are you lot still doing here?" she asked, irritation creeping into her voice. Raven dropped to her knees beside Dakota. She reached out for her sister, but Dakota grabbed her wrist. "Seriously, what are still doing here?"

Raven sighed, "There was an explosion and we couldn't get out. Now, _seriously_ , are you alright?" Raven broke Dakota's grip and moved Dakota's hair aside in a loving sisterly matter. She analyzed Dakota's bruise. "Not too bad, considering you went up against someone more experienced then you at fighting."

"I highly doubt that. I _could've_ taken him."

"Then what are you doing in here, next to a turned over pinball machine?"

"I'm used to fighting _average_ , run of the mill humans and mutants. Not red guys with tails!" Raven groaned and rubbed her head.

"Come on," she said as she grabbed Dakota's hands to help her back onto her feet.

Azazel was still in the courtyard fighting and killing the few remaining agents in the courtyard. Riptide was still outside near Cerebro, letting the cyclone do its thing.

The group of kids continuously looked between the two windows seeing the destruction. Raven helped Dakota over, when a poor dead agent crash through the window looking out to Cerebro. Angel and Raven screamed. The guys and Dakota jumped. The cyclone suddenly stopped.

"Why'd you knock some of those agents out? They could've helped us." Sean asked Dakota when the group realized that Riptide was walking their way.

"They would only get in the way and I didn't want anymore of them to get killed. Talk about collateral damage. That's why I told that guy on the walkie-talkie that no more agents were needed. But the whole freakin' plan went to hell and back and-"

"He's coming over too," Angel interrupted, pointing to Azazel; who was also only a few steps from walking into the room. Everyone looked nervously back and forth between Shaw's associates. They both stepped into the room causally. It was silent, and then another gun went off in the hallway, outside the doors of the rec room. Everyone jumped. They all heard some agent say:

"Hey, you want the mutants? They're right through these doors, just leave us normal people alone. We're no threat-" He was cut off and then there was only the sound of a body hitting the ground outside.

The door opened.

Sebastian Shaw walked in, wearing an expensive looking suit and a clunky mental helmet. His eyes were an icy blue, and he walked in the fashion of one who had complete confidence. Someone who knew no fear and knew he could take control over any situation.

"Where's the telepath?" he asked Azazel, in an even voice.

"Not here," the teleporter answered, in a thick accent.

Shaw's eyes lowered to the ground, "Too bad." His voice was laced with genuine disappointment. "Well, at least I can take this silly thing off," he smiled now and took off the helmet. He handed it to Riptide and ran a hand through his feathery brown hair. "Good evening," he said very formal like. "My name is Sebastian Shaw. And I am not here to hurt you."

Dakota started to scoff but Raven's grip tightened on her hand, reminding her that this was real and not a time to be all _Dakota_ like. A lone agent in the courtyard came limping over. "Freeze!" Shaw looked over to the man as one did to a small annoying child.

"Azazel."

Azazel teleported and killed the man.

"My friends, there is a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will be faced with a choice."

The group both stared and glared at the man. Shaw was now standing right in front of them. His eyes slowly went from right to left measuring up the young mutants.

"Be enslaved, or rise up to rule."

Darwin didn't like his guy at all. He hated that he seemed so calm after all of the mass devastation he helped create. He disliked the fact that when Shaw said the word, 'enslaved' he looked directly at him. His hands tighten into fists but he let them relax after a second. Punching the guy now, with both of his cronies watching, would be dumb and could possibly put everyone else in danger. And he would hate himself if he was the reason for putting everyone in danger; especially if he put Angel in danger.

"Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us, then, by definition, you are against us."

Raven was scared. She was afraid of the man that Erik hated with a boiling passion. She was afraid that Dakota wouldn't understand the grip on her hand and end up being her Dakota self. She was afraid that Dakota would end up being hurt worser then a small bruise. But despite the fear that took the full frontal of her mind, she kept secretly wondering; _'Telepath? Does Shaw know about Charles? What does he want with my brother?'_

"So, you can stay and fight for the people,"

Sean was shaken up. He had finally caught his breath, but he still felt uneasy. He knew when Charles, Dakota, and Erik told him that he could join the CIA that things could get intense. Pretty fast. And evidently, pretty soon. Honestly, Sean wasn't really listening to Shaw; he just wanted to get the heck out of there. He was scared out of his mind. He really hoped someone did something soon. A good guy though. Not a bad guy. If a bad guy did something, he was pretty sure one of them would die. And that was something Sean was _diffidently_ wasn't ready for.

"Who hate and fear you,"

Alex could not say that he wasn't interested in Shaw's offer. Shaw, obviously seemed to know what he was doing and he was pretty damn good at executing a plan. Shaw's icy eyes pierced Alex's for a few seconds and then went on to one of the others. Though Alex had to admit he felt his skin crawl when Shaw's eyes looked into his. The offer was good, but in all reality Xavier's was better. If he stuck with him, at least he wouldn't have to work with some creepy ass guys and hurt people. And that was the biggest turn off for Alex; Shaw would want him to use his powers to hurt people. He wouldn't do that again. Ever.

"Or you can come with me and live like kings."

Hank blinked away from Shaw's gaze. He didn't have the guts to look him straight in the eye. He also had to blink away, because for the briefest of moments he felt himself lean forward and think that he might just want to go. He blinked away, because the sudden thought startled him. Hank never would have thought that _he_ would want to join a terrorist, but…No. No buts. Shaw had a point that the humans would probably hate them and be afraid of them, but he had to believe what Charles had said multiple times over the past few weeks; that mutants and humans could get along with each other.

"And queens."

Angel stared at Shaw, mouth open, hanging onto every word he said; falling for his ideology. She knew that she would never fit in; in the human's world. She would never fit in any world. She was a woman of Mexican descent who had wings; fitting in would be a miracle. Shaw's eyes turned to her. He smiled slightly; he had a gentle look that seemed to understand everything that she was going through. Angel was conflicted. Reasons to go with Shaw: she could finally feel like she belonged somewhere. Reasons to stay: Darwin and Raven.

" _Join me."_

Dakota zoned Shaw out the second he started talking. She just wanted to-Well, if she was perfectly honest she wanted to throw the fish tank at him. He turned to her and smiled softly. She glared at him. She wanted to shove his stupid smug attitude down his throat.

"Wow, what a _great_ inspirational speech. Did you write it all down first or did you have Emma write it? Or was that all off the top of your head?" Dakota questioned, sarcastically. Raven's grip tightened on Dakota's wrist. Shaw chuckled.

"The infamous Miss Patience." He stepped closer to the group, Dakota ripped her hand away from Raven and stepped forward. Shaw was about Erik's height, so she had to tip her head up to meet his shinning maniac eyes. (She hated looking up to men! It made her feel short.) "I have heard so much about you, from my Emma." His eyes looked her over; he smiled a slippery smile. "You don't disappoint."

"I'm taking that as an insult," she said, in reference to his wondering eyes. "And when I say this, I speak for everyone in this room: we do not, nor will we ever join you," she said through gritted teeth. Shaw chuckled again.

"That's fine. I figured you might not be willing to join our cause right away, but the children have their own opinions and their own voices."

"They are staying right here!" She pointed at him, "You, go away."

A pause.

"No, wait, better. Stay here, wait a while and Erik will come and kill you. If I don't do it first myself."

"Erik? Yes, of course, Emma told me that he, you, and the telepath were recruiting."

" _The telepath_ has a name."

"I forget it." Dakota didn't know why she was letting Shaw get to her, but she was. "I don't mean to upset you, Miss Patience," he said with _deep concern_ in his voice. "I just want to make sure that your… _students?_ Know all of their options."

"Options are known. Thanks, bye."

Another pause.

"Do you like Erik?"

"What?" she snapped. The question came out of nowhere, and she wondered what the motivation behind it was.

"Erik. Do you like him? Is he still the young imaginative boy?"

"You must be talking about some other guy," Alex quipped. Shaw's eyes locked onto him. Dakota glanced at Alex over her shoulder, with sheer annoyance. He looked between the two; he held his hands up in surrender.

"That's what he was like when I last saw him," Shaw clarified. Dakota faced Shaw again and tossed her hair out of her face.

"He probably still would be like that, had you not come and ruined his life."

Shaw chuckled again; this time his chuckle transitioned into an eerie tooth filled grin. "Everything I did, I did to help him become the man you know _so_ well." The word, 'so' was laced with sarcasm, as if to imply that Dakota did not know everything about him. She felt like scoffing at this; there was nothing she didn't know thanks to the connection.

"Killing a twelve-year-old's mother was helping him?"

Shaw shrugged, "Truly an unfortunate matter. However, I feel like I did him a favor. He never would have grown with his powers, if he always had an _undesirable_ human distracting him from what is important."

Dakota had felt Erik's pain; his hate. But feeling another person's emotions and then feeling your own, were two completely separate things. She was furious; she felt like she was talking to a more annoying version of herself. Shaw was witty and sarcastic and he would get under Dakota's skin before she could get under his. The biggest difference was Shaw didn't show his emotions, like Dakota did; probably because he a psychopath who didn't have any. But the fact of the matter was, she was angry. So it was not a surprise when she curled up her fist and went to punch him the face.

What was a surprise, was that Shaw was fast enough to block her arm. He swiftly grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him. She gasped. "Not bad. Not good either," he said. And before she could react he pressed two fingers against her temple; there was a pulse of his power and then she was unconscious.

He let go of her; her head fell backwards, along with the rest of her body. Raven cried, "Dakota!" She caught her. With her arms wrapped around Dakota's stomach, Raven lowered herself and the frightfully limp Dakota to the floor. "Dakota? Wake up." Raven gently slapped her cheek, trying to wake her.

Sean's chest no longer hurt, it was replaced with a feeling of anger. "You-you jerk!" He lunged forward, but Hank grasped Sean's shoulder and kept him stationary. Sean getting himself killed was not something Hank would want to explain to anyone. Shaw looked down at Dakota in the arms of her sister.

"Perhaps, at a later time she'll want to join us."

"Hey," Alex said, Shaw looked up. "You heard what she said, we won't join you." His voice was steady and hard as a rock. Shaw just smiled then his gaze drifted back to Angel. She gulped. She had made her decision. Angel took his hand. He smiled and led her away from the group.

"Angel," Raven said, her voice confused.

"Are you kidding me?" Sean asked, equally confused.

Angel stopped, and looked back at her new-found friends. "Come on." She motioned her head for them to follow. Nobody moved. "We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of." Darwin didn't say a word, he just stared at the girl he thought he was beginning to know so well.

He held his hand out to her, indicating that it wasn't too late to change her mind and come back to him. Her eyes locked with his but she didn't take his hand. She walked away with Shaw. Darwin was hurt.

"We have to do something," Raven mumbled from the ground. Shaw, Angel, Azazel, and Riptide all walked out of the rec room through the big window and into the courtyard. Darwin, swallowed the sense of betrayal back and turned to Alex. He whispered his newly hatched plan to him. After a moment, Alex nodded. The four in the courtyard joined hands so that when Azazel teleported, they teleported with him. Darwin turned away from the group.

"Stop. I'm coming with you." He walked out of the rec room. Angel smiled, relieved. Sean was about to say, 'What?' but Alex turned and stopped the red head.

"Get out or get down when I tell you," he whispered.

"What?" Sean asked not hearing him.

Alex glared at him and said slowly, "Get out or get down when I tell you."

Shaw was happy that another mutant wanted to join him. "Good choice." He let go of Angel's and Azazel's hands and walked up to Darwin. "So, tell me about your mutation."

"Well, I adapt to survive. So, I guess I'm coming with you." Shaw chuckled and showed his teeth again.

"I like that."

Alex was in the middle of the rec room watching, waiting. Shaw led Darwin to the group. He patted him on the shoulder; Darwin wanted to punch his throat. Though he looked frustrated, Angel was still happy to see him and smiled at him. He ignored her. The second Darwin was in the group and he felt Angel's hand he said, "Alex."

"Get down!" Alex shouted to the others. Hank and Sean fell to the floor with Raven and Dakota.

"Do it!" shouted Darwin. He grabbed Angel and produced his protective scales. Alex felt the energy rise up inside himself and he soon produced a large red ring. He threw it from him and aimed it directly at Shaw and friends. For a split second, Alex felt good about his powers. He had got enough control over them to aim correctly and he was using them to help his friends. But then Shaw did something unexpected; he caught the ring.

"Protecting your fellow mutants?" he asked, absorbing the solar energy from the ring. Azazel pulled Angel away from Darwin; his scales disappeared. Alex didn't understand what just happened. "That's a noble gesture. Feels good." Darwin was just as confused as Alex was, but he soon forgot about it and did something rambunctious: He ran over to Shaw and went to punch him. Once again, Shaw blocked the punch only too easily. But this time when he blocked Darwin he did something to him. Darwin froze, he couldn't move.

Shaw roughly grabbed him by the throat. "Adapt to this." Shaw called up the solar energy he had absorbed and turned it into a little red ball of energy. He went to shove it down his throat.

"No!" Angel cried. Shaw glared at her. "Don't hurt him," she whispered. Sean took this moment of no movement to jump up, push Alex out of the way, and let out a screech. (The power of the scream knocked down everyone in the courtyard, made Raven and Hank's ears ring, and made Alex not able to hear out of his left ear for about ten minutes.) Shaw looked to Azazel. The teleporter teleported Riptide and Angel away.

"Angel!" Darwin yelled, but she was already gone.

Shaw was back on his feet; Azazel teleported back to the courtyard, next to him. "Put the children somewhere safe, where they won't be a problem." Azazel was suddenly behind Alex and Sean. He grabbed them and teleported out of the room.

"Alex!"

"Sean!"

Darwin ran back into the rec room; he stood where Alex and Sean had been, not two seconds ago. He was on the defense, ready to take on Azazel whenever he came back. Hank stood up too, and slowly walked to where Darwin slowly looked around.

"Hank! Come back here," Raven whispered. She worried that if the two were so close to each other, Azazel could easily take both of them at the same time. The two boys, who could be considered men, stood shoulder to shoulder. Waiting.

Shaw watched from the courtyard, amused.

Azazel appeared by one of the couches and tackled Darwin. As he fell he hit his head against the coffee table, hard. He wasn't unconscious but he was certainly out of it. Azazel went to punch him to ensure that he won't cause any more trouble but Hank caught Azazel's arm and prevented his fist from colliding with Darwin's head. Azazel's glare burnt into Hank's boyish eyes. Then Azazel smirked and he teleported with Darwin and Hank in tow.

"Hank!" Raven cried. Now she was all alone with no one but Shaw and the still quiet Dakota. Shaw stalked into the rec room; he looked down at Dakota still in the arms of Raven.

"This all could have been avoided," Shaw said quietly. He went to the wet bar, grabbed a scotch glass, and searched for the scotch.

Raven glared at the man, "We told you we didn't want to go. What else do you want from us?"

"You know, I would have been fine with leaving with just the one girl, but then I changed my mind." He leaned against the bar and poured the clear brown liquor into the glass. "I will wait for Erik and the telepath."

"What do you want with my brother?" Raven whispered. She felt like she had lost control over the entire world, and anything was possible now.

"Your brother is possibly the most powerful telepath the world _has ever seen._ And more than likely will ever see again. You don't think I would want him on my side?"

"He'll never join _you_! He is the one who has taught us that we will join the human's society and we all will live together in p-"

"Humans are weak insufficient beings!" Shaw shouted. It was the first time he had lost his cool, calm voice. Raven flinched from his outburst and focused on trying to wake her sister. Shaw sipped his drink. "Your brother is like every other person in this world. He can be manipulated because he has _a weakness._ Her," he looked down at Dakota, and Raven knew it was true. No matter how many problems Charles and Dakota had he would always love her and…he would do anything to ensure her safety.

Azazel was behind Raven and he pulled her away from Dakota. She fought, she really did, but it was no matter; she wasn't strong enough. Then she was teleported out of the room.

* * *

When Azazel had grabbed onto the back of his shirt, Sean knew this won't end well. And when he teleported, oh boy, did he know it won't end well! He figured that Azazel would teleport high in the sky and drop him and Alex and let them fall to their deaths like he had done to all of those agents. To Sean's surprise, the next thing he saw wasn't the dawn sky but a dark concrete room. Azazel threw Alex to the ground and then did the same to Sean. Sean yelped and landed on Alex.

"Ow," he mumbled. Azazel teleported out of the room.

"Get off me!" Alex shouted and pushed the teen off of him. They sat in the dark cool room, trying to catch their bearings and allow time for their eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room.

"Where are we?" Sean asked after a while.

"What?" Alex shouted. Sean jumped at the shout and then gave Alex a look that said, 'why are you yelling, you idiot?'

"WHERE ARE WE?" Sean shouted.

"How the hell should I know?" Alex shouted. Sean threw his hands in the air and then crossed his arms and slumped his shoulders.

"Why were we shouting?" Sean asked.

"WHAT?"

Sean groaned, "WHY WERE WE SHOUTING? AND WHY ARE WE STILL SHOUTING?"

"I can only hear out of my right ear!"

Sean froze.

"Oh."

When he let out that screech he hadn't thought too much that Alex was right next to him. He pushed him to the side, yeah, but not down. He had been standing not even a foot away. Sean remembered when he was about 14, he and his ugly cousin Martin had been playing basketball. Sean accidently let out a scream and made Martin deaf in his one ear and almost deaf in his other. Sean and Martin were never close by any means but, he still felt guilty. At first examination, you might not think that Sean's powers were that dangerous, but to the fragile ear drum they were.

Sean silently prayed that Alex wasn't deaf in his one ear, because if he was, Sean was totally dead.

Azazel appeared in the room again, this time with Hank and Darwin. Darwin was thrown into the wall. Sean flinched at the sound of Darwin colliding with the concrete wall. Hank was thrown in the opposite direction. His glasses flew off when he came in contact with the floor. Azazel once again disappeared and was gone.

Alex ran to Darwin, while Sean ran to Hank. Hank tried to sit up, but he couldn't. "Hang on Boy Genius, I'm coming," Sean said, as he crouched down and helped Hank sit up and lean against the wall. Hank's mouth was bleeding. "Blah! Your mouth," Sean pointed, feeling queasy at the sight of all the blood dripping out of Hank's mouth. Hank felt his lip with his fingers.

"Oh, I must have bitten the inside of my mouth when I hit the ground."

"Yeah," Sean agreed. He looked away and saw Hank's glasses. "Oh, look what I found. You can't be the Boy Genius without your glasses." He looked them over and twirled them around in his hands. Surprisingly they weren't broken. "Did you make some sort of special type of glasses that don't break?" he joked wearily.

"No. Thanks," he took the glasses from the red head and put them on.

"Do you know where we are?"

"Actually, yes," Hank said surprised.

Sean's eyebrows arched up, "You do?" Before anything else could be said the two heard Alex trying to wake Darwin.

"Darwin? Man, come on! Wake up!" Sean and Hank slowly got up and went over there. Hank got down on his knees and checked Darwin's pulse. He was relieved when he felt a steady beat. He next checked Darwin's head. There was a pool of blood forming around it. Hank took Alex's jacket and used that as a way to clot the blood. That was all he could do.

They all just sat there.

Azazel came once more, with Raven. Instead of throwing her, like he had done to the guys, he made sure she was standing. She pushed him away from her. He smiled, "Till, next time, my dear." He disappeared. Raven shook from head to toe, frightened. She took a few quick harsh breaths and then looked around.

"Raven?" Hank questioned. Raven spun around; her blond hair wiped into her face. Her eyes gazed over the four boys. She didn't say anything. She seemed awfully pale. "Raven, what is it?"

"Shaw-he-he is waiting for Charles and Erik to come back. And Dakota is in there still, with him! And I don't know if-if-" Hank had gotten up and walked a few strides in order to close the space between the two of them. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an embrace.

He smelled her hair and said, "It's okay." He had no other words of comfort, nor anything else to say. He just held her close, hoping that it would help. Alex and Sean looked away awkwardly. Alex focused on Darwin. Sean would have too, but looking at the blood, just…blah!

"I feel awkward just sitting here watching them," Sean said quietly. Fortunately, he was sitting on Alex's right so, Alex could actually hear him. Alex turned towards him. "Aren't you gonna say it? You were right, they're into each other. And they totally need to get a room."

"…What the hell is your problem? This is no time to be joking!"

"It's a defense mechanism!"

"You two, stop!" Hank shouted, loud enough for both of them to hear him. "We all need to stay calm." Hank walked to where the two teens sat, with Raven on his arm.

"WHAT?"

"CALM! WE NEED TO STAY CALM!" Sean shouted. Hank glared slightly at him; Sean shyly smiled. Hank took his arms away from Raven and focused on clotting the continuous flow blood that leaked from Darwin's head.

"We are in an underground bunker. It's a few yards away from Cerebro. It was built in case there was a bombing. The problem is the door can only be opened with a code that I don't know."

"So, we're stuck down here?" Raven clarified. Alex and Sean both stared at Hank waiting for his answer.

"Yeah, we're stuck down here."

* * *

Erik sat on the same crate he had sat on when they had taken the plane to Russia. He sat contemplating; thinking. He and Charles had taken Emma "prisoner", and brought her with them. Moira had managed to keep Levine and the Special Forces from abandoning them. When they told her what Frost had told them, she looked as startled as Erik felt. And she reacted the same way.

"We have to get back to the base now."

The drive back to the plane took forever, but the plane ride took an eternity. Every second took a minute, every minute took an hour, and every hour took a day. Erik hated this feeling off anxiety that continued to grow as every freaking second ticked slowly away. That theory on the perspective of time that Charles had told him, over two weeks ago, seemed to be correct. Depending on the circumstance, time would either inched on as slow as a snail or fly as fast as Dakota could run.

Dakota.

Oh, why did she have to be so stubborn and not come with them? At least if she was here, he might not feel this feeling of impending doom. Sure, he would still be anxious, but he knew if she were here, the back of the plane wouldn't be so eerily quiet. She would make idle threats of what she would do to Shaw once she got to the base. She would send her death glares at Frost who was sitting with the cargo, same as Charles and Erik. She would know the right words to say. And even if she didn't, she would still say whatever was on her mind.

Erik also hated sitting still. When he was worried he paced. But in all honesty if he did pace back and forth in the plane he would end up getting motion sickness. Charles apparently didn't have that problem, because he hadn't stopped pacing ever since the plane had taken off. Erik would look to his young friend, feel slightly dizzy from watching him storm back and forth and the feeling of the plane rock in the turbulence, look down at the plane floor to swallow down the queasiness, glance over at the ever smug Emma, and then start the process all over again, while constantly going over all the possible horrors that awaited them when they got back to Langley.

"It's all my fault."

"What?" Erik looked up at Charles, who was still pacing. As worried as Erik felt, Charles looked ten times more worried.

"It's all my fault. If-if, I had just allowed the children to come with us then they wouldn't be in danger now." Charles' words hung in the cargo section. Erik had gotten use to the fact that Charles had the tendency to blame himself for everything, but he, for a split second, had to admit that it did seem to be Charles' fault. But then he reminded himself, it wasn't Charles' fault, it was Shaw's. Shaw was the one who went to the base to confront the kids. Those words were on the tip of Erik's tongue, but he was rudely interrupted by Miss Frost.

"Wow, it _is_ your fault," she said in a snarky voice. Erik glared at her.

"We're on a plane, Frost. Don't tempt me."

She smiled, amused. "You think those pathetic human do-gooders will _let you_ throw me off the plane? They need me."

Erik scoffed, "I pretty sure they would be glad to be rid of you."

"She's right," Charles said. Erik turned back to Charles.

"She's wrong." Emma gave Erik a _frosty_ glare. "She is completely wrong."

"I'm right. Even he admits it," she nodded to Charles.

"You're wrong. Now, Charles-"

"I should have just listened to Dakota but, no. No, no, no. I had to be so damned stubborn." Charles wasn't even talking to anyone anymore, he was just letting all the guilt come out at once and seemed to forget that there were still people listening to him.

"Charles,"

"Well, listen to him carrying on like a sad little puppy."

"Frost, I swear to God-"

"Maybe if I just listened to Dakota-"

"Charles, if you would just listen-"

"Boy look at him. He's really welling up."

"That's it!" Erik jumped up from the crate, stormed to where Emma sat with her legs crossed, and covered her mouth.

"Hey-!" Frost gasped, as her voice was cut off by Erik's hand. She glared at Erik. Erik returned the glare. Then he turned to Charles who stood in the middle the cargo section, biting his bottom lip.

"Now, listen to me. It is not your fault, it is Shaw's fault, okay? _Please_ , stop blaming yourself. Just sit down. It _will_ be alright." Charles' ridiculously blue eyes, seemed brighter than usual.

"But what if something happens? What if something really terrible happened? How do I live with that, knowing it was because of me?"

"You, just, do." Charles let out an exasperated breath and turned away from Erik. He ran his hands through his hair for the fiftieth time. Erik, felt bad for his friend and wished he could say something more reassuring. Erik felt a warm, wet thing graze across the palm of his left hand. He quick took his hand away from Emma's mouth. "Did you just lick me?"

Emma smiled a wide cheerful, tooth-filled grin. He shook his head in disgust, "I hate you." Her smiled didn't disappear. He rubbed his hand on his pants, getting the wet off.

Moira walked into the cargo section. "Did you get word to the base?" Charles asked, when he saw the brunette come in. She shook her head.

"We did, finally. There…was an attack."

"And…?" Erik asked almost impatiently.

"And at least thirty agents and soldiers are dead."

If it were even possible, Charles went even paler then he had been before. "What about the children?" he asked, his voice wavering.

Moira shrugged, "We don't know. An agent reported seeing a group of them trying to run out of the base, but it wasn't safe at the time so they were pushed back. Another one heard a British woman talking over the walkie-talkies."

Erik sighed in relief; someone had heard her, she was okay.

"Dakota," Charles said, in equal relief. Erik sat back down on his crate.

"So? Now what?" he asked.

"We get back in about forty minutes. When we arrive it will almost be morning. We'll go directly to the base and more than likely Shaw and his associates will already be gone by the time we get there. We find the kids and Dakota, and we attend to them."

"And if Shaw isn't gone?" Erik asked. Moira's eyes showed hesitation.

"If he isn't gone," she took a breath, "the worst thing that could happen could be a _hostage situation_ or a full on confrontation." Neither of which sounded good. Moira hated being the bringer of news like that, especially since she knew how worried both men must have felt. She was worried herself, but somehow she felt like they were more worried.

"Hostage situation," Erik repeated, rubbing his forehead. Moira nodded slowly. "Great." Charles finally sat down on the crate next to Erik and focused his eyes on the floor; he didn't say anything. Erik opened his mouth, but then shut it. Moira left the room and went back to the front of the plane. Instead of speaking Erik simply patted Charles on the back, and prayed that the forty minutes would go quickly.

* * *

Her head felt as if it had been hit with a steam shovel. All that could register in her cloudy brain was the pain. Fiery pain radiating throughout her head.

Oh, it hurt!

Bloody hell!

What did she do?

She couldn't remember.

The fog started to lift and the memories came back slowly. The attack on the base, trying to get the kids out, Shaw…

Shaw.

…

That damn motherf-!

"Miss Patience? Waking up slowly, I see."

Shaw's irritatingly calm voice, boomed in her ears. Her eyes opened ever so slightly; the lights practically blinded her. Her head was still throbbing and she heard a distant ringing in her ears. She slowly opened her eyes again, this time she shielded her eyes with her arm. She glanced around her; she was still in the rec room. She was laying on one of the couches.

' _Who picked me up and moved me?'_ She turned her head, and there standing at the wet bar, smoking a cigar, was Shaw.

"Awake at last." She glared at the man; she sat up fast but the motion caused another wave of pain throughout her head. She cursed under her breath and fell back down on the couch. Shaw smirked. "It will pass, just give it a bit more time."

"Oh, that's reassuring." She massaged her temples and sat up slowly. "What did you do to me?" Her eyes gazed around the room. "Why are you still here? Where are the kids?"

A pause.

"Why aren't you answering any of my questions?"

Shaw chuckled, "Feisty one, aren't you."

"You have no idea," she snapped. Shaw smiled, and took a puff of his cigar. He strolled around the bar and grabbed something. He set a pack of cigarettes on the cracked coffee table. Dakota eyed them, suspiciously. Shaw motioned his hand for her to take one. After a second she blew a strand of hair out of her face, and took one out of the carton. Shaw smiled and flicked out a lighter. She got her light from Shaw and took a deep breath on the cigarette, and let the sickly sweet smoke fill her lungs. Boy, Charles would be giving her an unneeded lecture later.

She breathed out and let the smoke come out; she felt more relaxed already. "It's been a long day. Don't think this changes anything." She pointed to the cigarette.

"I would have thought this could be a peace offering," Shaw snatched up the carton and went back to the bar.

"Peace offering? Are you delirious? What am I saying, of course you are." She took a few more drags on her cigarette. "You still didn't answer my questions."

"Well, let's see. I hit you with a burst of energy that left you unconscious for about," he moved his sleeve back and glanced at his watch, "an hour."

"An hour?" Dakota almost shouted.

"I am still here because I decided to wait for Erik and your telepath friend." Dakota's eyes widened a little. "And the children are somewhere safe where they won't be a bother to anyone." Dakota clenched her jaw; she took another drag.

"So, what am I? The damsel in distress? You trying to hatch a clever little scheme to use me against Charles?"

"Charles! Yes, that's his name. Thank you." Dakota just glared at the man. "I suppose you are the damsel aren't you?"

"Doubtful. I could kick your ass and escape."

Shaw chuckled, darkly. " _Doubtful_. If you noticed, you cannot run, you cannot heal yourself, nor anyone else, you cannot use your pathetic excuse of telepathy." As Shaw named off her powers Dakota felt dread in the pit of her stomach, because she realized he was right. She suddenly felt uncomfortable and on edge. Her powers were a part of her and put in this situation without them, seemed to drain all of her usual confidence. "You should still be able to sense other mutants. And use that other power of yours. What did Emma call it? The Connection?"

Despite the mounting dread, she sighed in relief; Shaw didn't know about her so-called sixth sense.

She sat straighter on the couch. "Who knew absorbing energy could make a person block other people's powers. Very _impressive_."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Shaw said, knowing full well that she was patronizing him. He walked from the bar and went to the couch where she sat. He slowly walked around the couch. "I'm most fascinated with your speed. I've heard that you can break the time barrier, is that true?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, feeling that familiar feeling of wanting to hit him. He ran his hand along the back of the couch as he walk by; his fingers ever so slightly grazing against shoulders. She shuttered.

"I have never had the pleasure to meet a time-traveler. Your power is quite rare, I hope you know. To be able to see the beauties of the past and to know the outcome of the future…What a wonderful gift, indeed." He came around the couch and walked to one of the over turned chairs. Dakota felt like she was being circled by a wild animal. He picked up the chair and flipped it around and sat in it. His gaze penetrated Dakota.

"Um, yeah, thanks? Now if you are done giving me false flattery-"

"What does happen in the future?"

Dakota was quiet for a while; brewing over being interrupted and also wondering what she should say. Then she said, "Whatever your plan is, either wouldn't work or we'll stop you. I don't ever remember seeing a Sebastian Shaw in the history books, as the world's worst terrorist."

Shaw stared at her. She glared back.

…

A minute passed. Dakota felt the tension grow in the room like an unattended weed. She finally blinked and glanced away. Shaw smirked. "Being a time-traveler, I'm surprised that you would even believe history books." Dakota's eyebrows knitted together. "You being here, in this different time, it effects the main stream." Dakota knew exactly what Shaw was talking about, but for once she didn't have anything to say. Shaw pushed himself up off of the chair. He strolled around to the bar.

"Imagine time as a peaceful, calm river. It is flowing in one predetermined direction, everything is all laid out. And then someone like you comes along, and you change the river of time into a new blank canvas. History doesn't matter anymore. There is no direct path to what is to happen anymore. And I can thank you for this wonderful opportunity."

He took a gulp of his scotch. Dakota could feel a feeling she hadn't felt in a long while, guilt. She knew that her presence in a time that wasn't her own was dangerous.

She had always know this!

That is why she was always so careful, to ensure that she didn't do anything to change the inevitable. But never had it been put so bluntly. Never had she met someone one knew this about her and was planning on using this to their advantage. It was no longer about her, she had to find out what Shaw was doing so she could fix any damage she might have caused.

Shaw shoved back his sleeve again, looking at his watch. "It shouldn't be long now. I am so looking forward to meeting this Charles fellow. It should fun."

"Yeah, fun. As fun as getting shot," Dakota mumbled. She took a final drag and then put out the cigarette, in a disregarded ashtray on the coffee table. And then she felt Charles and Erik, via the connection, land in their plane.

* * *

As soon as the plane had stopped moving, Erik and Charles ran to the exit. They were the first ones off, followed by Moira. There was a black CIA car waiting for them. Erik took the wheel, Charles took shot gun, and Moira sat in the back seat. As soon as everybody was in the car, Erik took off at break neck speeds.

No one talked, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. They could have been thinking up a plan, but no one said a word. Then-

"Talk about a bunch of quiet people! I thought you all would at least be discussing a plan to save us." Erik's foot slammed on the break. Everyone jerked forward in the car when it came to a sketching stop. Charles and Erik both spun around in their seats. Sitting next to Moira was Dakota.

"What-"

"How-"

Dakota held up her hands. "It's okay, it's okay! I'm actually not here."

"What do you mean you're not here?" Erik asked. He saw her. He wasn't crazy, he saw her. She was sitting two feet away from him!

"Who are you two talking to?" Moira exclaimed, looking between the two men in the front seat. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she looked at them like they were crazy. In turn so did Charles and Erik.

"She can't see me," Dakota explained. Erik and Charles still didn't seem to understand. Dakota sighed, impatiently. "I'm talking to the two of you through the connection. Moira can't see me, because the last time I checked, I wasn't connected to her. See, look-"

Dakota waved her hand in front of Moira's face, who of course, didn't react because she saw nothing. Dakota looked at the two men and smiled, "Okay? All confusion squared away?"

Charles shook his head quickly, while Erik nodded more slowly.

"Okay, great, you," she pointed to Charles, "tell Moira that I'm kind of, sort of here, so she doesn't think you are crazy. And you," she pointed to Erik, "put the car in gear, and step on it."

Both complied, and after a minute the car was going, once again at break neck speeds and Moira was no longer thinking that Charles and Erik needed professional help.

"Okay, so, I'm assuming that you're alright," Erik said to Dakota, relief in his voice.

"Oh, never better. I'm just peachy."

"…Is that sarcasm?" he asked.

She chuckled, "You know me so well." She smirked slightly, and Erik would have too, had they all not been in a car racing to base. And if Dakota had actually been there. And if Charles wasn't a foot away from him.

"Seriously, are you alright?" Charles asked, concerned.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I can't use half of my powers, I have no idea where the kids are, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to kill Shaw."

"That's my job," Erik said, a new dark tone entering his voice. "He's still there?"

"Yeah, he's still here. I am _graced_ to be in the presence of a total psychopath. Oh, FYI, Shaw-"

"FYI?" Charles asked.

"For your information." Charles shook his head understanding. "Shaw is waiting for the two of you to get back so he can ask you to join him."

"Why does he want-?"

"Because he wants Erik on his side and something about Charles being a power telepath, and blah, blah, blah. I don't know. I wasn't really listening." This time Erik did smirk. "Listen," Dakota scooted forward on the back seat, so that she was closer to the two men. "Do you guys have any idea what he is planning?" There was a new tone in her voice; something similar to guilt.

"Yes, we do. We managed to capture one of his associates, Emma Frost."

"Oh, yes. Shaw's dear Emma. What is she like?" Dakota asked; the guilt was now gone and replaced by, well, herself.

"Oh, she goes from being a treat, to a real bitch," Erik replied.

"Well, of course! She's sleeping with Shaw, she has to be just as unbalanced as he is." Erik smirked again. Charles rubbed his forehead. "Ah, gee, look at Charles." Erik took a second to glance at Charles who was still rubbing his forehead. "He doesn't like talking about sex," Dakota whispered, as if it was some important secret. Charles covered his eyes; his cheeks turned red. Erik stole another look from the road to Charles, who sunk down in the car seat. "Which is ironic, considering he is always harping on me to-"

"Anyways," Charles said in a loud annoyed voice. "Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?"

"What did you ask her to do?" Erik asked Charles, with an intrigued smile.

"That question is not getting us back to the matter at hand, Erik."

Charles' unamused tone, along with his still red cheeks, made Dakota laugh. She fell back against the car seat, and caught her breath. Charles gave her a half-hearted glare, which just made her laugh more. Charles sighed and turned back around in his seat and glared out the window. Erik was wanting to ask more questions, but now didn't seem to be the time to be pestering Charles about his love life with Dakota.

"Can I ask a question?" Moira asked from the back seat, and Erik started because he almost forgot that she was there. "What is Dakota saying? Shaw's still at the base, right? Are the kids safe? Is…Sean alright?"

Dakota stopped laughing, and suddenly became serious. (Such an odd emotion on her.) "Shaw is still here. I'm in the rec room with him. Repeat all this to Moira." Charles did, and then Dakota continued on. "His associates are far away, but close enough that I can still vaguely sense them. And, um, Angel is with them."

Charles looked to Dakota. "Do you think they took her?" His eyes were filled with worry once again.

Dakota shook her head, "No. I think she went with them. Willingly." Then Charles' eyes were filled with something worser then worry; disappointment. Dakota had never been fond of Angel, she had never hid that from anyone, but she knew that the others liked her. Raven saw her as a friend, Darwin saw her as a possible girlfriend, Charles saw her as one of the children that he had recruited. (In fact she was the first one who had agreed to join the CIA.)

"Yeah, um, more bad news. The agent is dead."

"What?" Moira exclaimed, when Charles repeated Dakota's words. Dakota glanced down at her shoes. The fun, almost carefree mood that had been in the car was replaced by a somber mood. Moira's shoulders slumped down as the realization hit her. The agent, or Lynden Marks, which was his real name, had been one of the few agents in the CIA who thought she was more than a typist. More than just another pretty face.

"And the kids?" she asked, her voice filled with determination.

"I can sense them. They're nearby. It's almost as if they are…underground."

"Under-I know where they are!" Moira exclaimed.

"Alright, listen, here's the plan," Charles started. "Moira, you go find the children. Help them, alright?" Moira nodded; she still looked determined. "Erik and I will come and get you, Dakota."

"And Shaw?" Erik asked, glancing at Charles.

"Let's try to focus on saving Dakota and the children."

"Excuse me, I don't need saving."

"Right, so are you just sitting with Shaw to socialize?"

"Shut up Erik."

Then Dakota gasped.

"What? What is it?" Charles asked.

"Shaw. He's figured out that I've been-" Dakota disappeared before she could finish her sentence.

* * *

Shaw saw there was a difference in the way that Miss Patience sat on the couch. She had been aware and on the defense. That was to be expected; she didn't trust him. But then she turned awfully quiet, and relaxed. And there were a few times when Shaw could have sworn that she had smiled or had been mouthing a few words.

Huh.

Shaw took the precautionary movement of putting his helmet on. He put his glass on the bar and walked around to see if his theory was correct. Dakota didn't move; her eyes were glued to the floor as if she were concentrating on something. Though Dakota didn't move, her face expressions would sometimes change. Shaw smiled; he grabbed Dakota's wrist. She gasped, and looked up at him.

"Having a nice chat with Charles and Erik?" Dakota didn't say a word, but her wide eyes gave her away. He threw her across the room. She landed by the turned over pinball machine. "So, they are close, then. Good. This should be fun."

* * *

The CIA car arrived at the base four minutes after Dakota disappeared. It was still dark out, the light was starting to shine though, ever so slightly. The car screeched to a stop and Charles, Erik, and Moira all jumped out and slammed the doors. The base was in shambles. Glass and brick and pieces of concrete were scattered everywhere. Agents and soldiers filing their way out of the base and everyone talking at once. No one was in command.

Charles, Erik, and Moira made their way to the front door. The glass was everywhere, it was amazing that no one cut themselves on it. There was a general census of disorder and chaos. The three of them finally made it into the base and saw that the entrance and surrounding halls were black and burnt. The floor was slanted more than usual; the entire base was slanted. The pillars throughout the base that acted as the support were cracked. It all looked like it was going to collapse.

And Charles heard everyone, felt everyone's fear and anxiety and anger. He felt as if he was drowning in the emotion of this disaster. He felt someone's hand grab his arm. He felt himself being pulled away from everything and everyone; it was like a dream.

He finally started to snap out of it. Erik was the one who was pulling him along. Moira shouted back at them that she would go to the bunker and find the children. She disappeared down a hallway. Erik and Charles were close to the rec room.

' _Erik, promise me that whatever happens, you wouldn't do anything rash.'_

' _Sorry Charles. I can't make that promise.'_ Erik could feel Charles' eyes gazing at him and he could almost picture Charles' nervous and worried expression. They reached the rec room doors. There were two dead agents sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. Erik didn't know how Shaw managed to that much damage to the two men. The blood spatter was over the walls and the doors. Charles was rudely reminded of why he despised violence. But thankfully Erik pulled Charles away before he really could examine the poor blokes.

They entered the rec room. Shaw stood in the middle of it, his arms wide open, as if to greet them. The rec room looked like it had the day before: broken glass, over turned furniture. But what made it different were the bullet holes that ran along the back wall. And the bodies that littered the courtyard. Debris was all that was left of Cerebro, along with more bodies and electrical wires. "Ah, there they are! We've been waiting for you, haven't we Miss Patience?"

Shaw turned to his right and smiled. Charles and Erik followed Shaw's gaze. Dakota was sitting on the floor with the pinball to her left and a bloody dead agent to her right. Charles gasped, and tried to go to her, but was restrained by Erik. Erik would have loved to go to her too, but he knew better of it. It was like walking into a trap. Though he was as surprised as Charles was.

When Dakota had appeared in the car, she looked like, well, Dakota. Wavy brown hair, crystal clear eyes, flawless complexion. She now looked completely different; her hair was a mess of curls in every direction in tangles, her eyes showed anger and pain, there was a small cut above her eyebrow, and darkening bruise on her cheek. Her arms were crossed over her chest, in a defiant matter.

"What, no come back? No witty remark?" Shaw said, vexing her.

"I'm doing this little thing I like to call, not reacting. It prevents me from punching idiots like you in the throat." Erik couldn't help but smile; she was fine, she was Dakota. Shaw didn't look amused.

"Well, I suppose I'll get down to business. I have been waiting for the two of you to come back so I can-"

"Ask us to join you. The answer is no." It was the first time Charles had interrupted someone who wasn't Dakota or Raven. Shaw's eyebrow twitched.

"Maybe you don't quite understand my offer."

"Yes, we do," Erik said and was quick to add, "I don't know what nerve you have to try and persuade me to join you after everything you did." Shaw's expression softened.

"Oh, Erik. I had so hoped that you would have learned by now that everything I did was to help you." Erik was going to say something else, to argue the ridiculousness that was that statement, but Charles put a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, we're not going to join you, alright? So it would be in your best interest to leave."

Shaw chuckled. "Charles, yes? I'm in no mood to leave empty handed. Someone's coming with me. Now whether it is willingly or not, that's up to the three of you."

* * *

Moira ran through the abandoned halls of the base, turning when she had to. She finally reached the door that led to the outside, which led to Cerebro. When she burst through the door she was met with a horrific sight. Cerebro was completely destroyed. The pieces were everywhere, tangled into mangled shapes. She jogged more slowly, afraid that she would trip over the wreckage or hit a live-wire.

She surveyed the area, searching for the iron door in the ground that led to the bunker. She saw movement. She grabbed her gun out. She walked now; both of her hands were steadily on the gun. "Who's out there? Identify yourself!" she ordered.

"Agent Jase Thompkins, Special Forces!" a voice said. Moira lowered her gun.

"Agent Thompkins, this is Agent MacTaggert. What are you doing here?" She finally could see the agent, dressed in black with a helmet on and a gun in hand.

"Looking for survivors, ma'am." Moira walked closer to the agent. Poor kid looked like he was just over twenty. "We were sent out to stop the…twister that destroyed the installation. But it was too powerful and most of the men, were…"

Moira put her hand on the kid's shoulder. "Listen to me, you did your job and that's all that matters. Will you help me find some of my friends?" He nodded.

Within a few minutes Moira and Agent Thompkins found the bunker door. Thank God it was covered by any debris. Moira typed in the password and the door automatically unlocked. They both pried open the rusting door. Moira was the first one down the concrete stairs. When she reached the bottom she was met with a wonderful sight: the kids.

They were all there. Hank, Raven, Alex, Darwin, and Sean. "You guys alright?" She asked stepping closer to the huddled group on the ground.

"Moira? Yes, yes we're okay. Except for Darwin…" Hank's voice lowered as he lowered his head to the still unconscious Darwin. Moira took one look at the blood under Darwin's head and called for Agent Thompkins to come down and help them.

* * *

"What do you mean one of us has to go?" Dakota asked, not in the mood for any of this.

"Just as I said. You're all too powerful to be on the same side. If I can't have you all, I at least want one of you."

"That's not happening," Erik snapped. Shaw looked to Erik, with gleaming eyes. Erik hated those damn eyes. Always so bright and cheery, even when he was doing terrible, horrendous acts of torture. _Damn those eyes._

"Dear Erik, making friends I see. How's that working out?" Erik didn't answer. "Friends with the girl and the telepath. Speaking of which, how powerful are you, Charlie-boy?" Charles flinched at the nickname. "You see, my Emma, said something about you being the most powerful telepath she had ever seen and I was wondering if that were true."

Charles held two fingers to his temple, ready to show Shaw just how powerful he was, but when he went to enter Shaw's mind he was met with silence. Charles shook his head, not understanding. "Charles?" Erik said, slightly impatient.

"I-I can't get through. Something's blocking my-" Shaw tapped his helmet with his finger.

"Having trouble reading my mind?"

Suddenly, a light bulb went on in Dakota's head. "Emma Frost!" Everyone turned to her. "They captured your precious Emma in Russia," she pointed to Charles and Erik. Shaw seemed surprised.

"Is that true?"

"Yes," Erik said, crossing his arms.

Shaw chuckled, "I'm curious to learn how you managed that."

Erik shrugged, "That's not important. But if she's so important to you, you should go and get her."

"Yes," Charles added. "The other agents are taking her to another CIA base. You should hurry before it's too late."

Shaw looked from Dakota, to Charles, to Erik, then laughed. "You expect me to be that unintelligent and to just leave to save a _girl_?"

"Yes?" Charles weakly replied.

Erik glared at him half-heartedly. Honestly, Erik thought he was going crazy. Here he had Shaw right in his clutches and he was willing to let him leave. He really must be going crazy.

"You know what I'm going to do? I will let Erik and Charlie-boy stay and I will take Miss Patience with me. Unless, _you_ can bring me back Emma."

Charles thought it over. _Shaw's price_ was simple in a matter of speaking. He didn't want Shaw to have Emma, then he would have a telepath who could be a real pain. But then Shaw would take Dakota. And anything was worth protecting her. There was no real question about it. Charles closed his eyes in concentration.

* * *

' _Hello, Miss Frost.'_

' _What? Oh, well if it isn't the dashing young professor. What can I do for you?'_

' _Nothing.'_ Emma was being dragged to another black CIA car; she was still with the Special Forces at the site where the plane had landed. Her telepathy wasn't back to being at its full strength; Charles had weakened it once he and Erik had captured her. But suddenly all of the agents and Special Forces dropped to the ground, asleep.

' _Really Xavier? All that power and you just put the weaklings to sleep?'_

' _Shut up and get in that car.'_

' _Why?'_

' _Drive to the CIA base where I am.'_

' _Why?'_

' _Because I told you to!'_

' _Jeez, Professor, you don't have to get all mad on me. Shaw wanted me, am I right?'_

'… _Yeah, sure. You're right. Now will you just get in the damn car!'_

Emma smiled; her hands turned into their diamond form and she broke the hand cuffs. She ran gracefully to the car and drove to the base to meet her _love_.

* * *

Charles opened his eyes. "Miss Frost will be here shortly." Shaw smiled and clapped his hands together, impressed. Charles hated Shaw's look in his eye when he watched him. It was the way a cat looked at mouse before snatching him by the tail and devouring him.

"Quiet impressive. _Quiet impressive_ , I must say. You really are so powerful, for being so young." Dakota snorted at that remark. Charles was 25; that wasn't _that_ young.

It took a good five to ten minutes but finally Emma arrived. She burst through the rec room doors and proclaimed, "Honey, I'm home!"

Dakota rubbed her head. "You people are seriously messed up, I swear to God." Erik and Charles held onto Emma's arms preventing her from going to Shaw.

"You let Dakota go now."

"Technically, I never had her, to let go of her to begin with."

"Here's a thought," Dakota said standing up. "How about we let bygones be bygones and Frost and I go at the same time."

"Smart girl you have there," Shaw said to Charles. Dakota walked over; Charles and Erik released Emma. The two women walked past each other and gave each other a leveled glare. (It was the ultimate staring contest!) Emma swaggered to Shaw and he wrapped his arm around her waist. Dakota walked to Charles and Erik. They both watched her as if she were a China doll that could break at any moment. She smiled slightly at the two of them. It was funny to see the two with the same worried look etched on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Charles asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah," she answered in an equally soft voice. She stood between the two of them and faced Shaw and Emma.

"Well, tonight was an interesting evening," Shaw said, smiling again. "I do wish that you would all change your minds. Perhaps in the not too distant future you will." He smiled at Emma who returned the smile. Dakota wanted to throw up. Azazel appeared out of nowhere and teleported them out of the room. Erik cursed under his breath; he had given up his chance to kill Shaw.

Dakota sighed. "Well, that wasn't fun. At least I showed-Ah!" Charles pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm so, so, _so_ sorry, Dakota." He buried his head in her shoulder.

"Hey! It's alright, kay? I know you didn't mean any of those things you said last night." Charles backed away from her, and looked into her eyes. God, he loved those eyes.

Erik couldn't help it, he rolled his eyes. It was very difficult for him to watch Charles and Dakota be mushy when Erik wanted to be the one to embrace Dakota. He turned away, frustrated, and looked out the window. He saw that the sun was rising; the dark was being chased away by the light. He heard the two talking.

"Did you smoke?" Charles asked.

"Just one tiny, bity little cigarette," she answered, and Erik could tell from the tone of her voice that she had that smirk on her face. Then he heard Dakota gasp; he turned back to the two. Charles held Dakota at arm's length, looking at her for the answer of why she gasped. "Darwin. He's hurt. He's in the medical wing." Erik and Charles shared a look, then the trio ran out of the rec room.

* * *

Sean, Alex, Raven, Hank, and Moira all sat outside. The sun was up and it was the start of another beautiful day. Except no one paid the sunny weather any mind, they were all worrying about Darwin.

Darwin, one of their own.

Moira and Agent Thompkins had gotten the kids out of the bunker, and got Darwin to the medical wing. He had a concussion, and there was so much blood…the doctor said it was possible that Darwin went into blunt force trauma comma. All the blood had filled up his brain; it was possible that he might never wake up again.

Hank felt like a failure because he could do anything to really help Darwin when his head was cracked open, spilling blood everywhere. Raven was still dealing with the fact that her best friend, Angel, had left, and her other friend was in a comma. And she hadn't heard two words from Dakota or Charles.

Alex sat with his head down. Darwin and he had gotten close over the last two weeks. So close that Alex started to consider him his friend. But it was so typical that something like this would happen. He screwed up Darwin's plan to get Angel back and then he got taken by that stupid teleporter dude. He hadn't even been there when Darwin was initially hurt! And he called him his friend. Alex couldn't make friends or keep them. They always ended up being taken away from him.

Sean leaned his head against the back of the bench they were all sitting on. He wore a pair of sunglasses; he had forgotten about them in his jacket pocket. It was amazing they hadn't been broken. He had his eyes closed, thinking. And also sort of sleeping. They all had been up for almost a full twenty-four hours. Crazy, huh? Someone nudged his shoulder. "Hum?"

"Wake up," Moira said.

"Why?" Moira gave him an annoyed look. Sean didn't know why; sleeping on a bench while a bunch of agents ran from the base back to the outside wasn't against the law. Right? He glanced over to his left. Darwin's taxi was still sitting where it had been parked for near over two weeks. There was a huge block of concrete smashed on top of it. So much for Darwin returning it to his boss.

Sean sighed. He couldn't help but rethink about the events of that evening; they were constantly replaying over and over in his head. He wondered if he had traumatic stress disorder. Boy would that explain a lot. He felt like a coward. He didn't have the stomach for blood. He wasn't a fighter. He wasn't even an athletic type person. Jeez, why did British, Professor, and Erik pick him to join the CIA anyway?

Speaking of the trio: the three of them walked out of the base's front doors. Raven met Charles' eyes and she stood up. "Raven," he said breathlessly. He ran over and hugged her. She accepted the hug and looked over Charles' shoulder at Dakota.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, sure. My pride's hurt worse more than anything else."

"How's Darwin?" Hank asked. It was the question that was on everyone's mind.

"He's in a comma. The hit to his head-"

"We know that part," Moira said, softly interrupting Charles. "I think Hank just meant, how is Darwin now?"

The group of kids and Moira turned their gaze to Dakota. Now she understood. "You mean did I heal him and is everything going to be all peachy like it was before?" There were a series of nods. "No. I couldn't heal him." Dakota glared at the ground, waiting for the multiple questions that were at the edge of everyone's tongues.

"What do you mean you couldn't heal him?" Alex asked, in disbelief.

"My powers-it's complicated. Whenever I heal someone, I transfer my power to them for a short while. In the end I have their wound and I have to heal myself, like with what I did for Hank."

"So, what's different?" Hank asked.

"Darwin's unconscious, for one. I need the person that I'm healing to think calm thoughts or otherwise I can't focus. And two, it is the nature of his injury. There is so much blood in his head that if I tried to heal him…" she stopped talking.

"You would end up putting yourself in a comma," Hank clarified. Dakota nodded.

"So, you didn't even try?" Alex asked, frustrated.

She turned on him. "It's not like I don't want him to be awake! It's not like I don't want him to be conscious! I-I've tried doing this sort of thing before, with healing broken bones and people in commas and it has _always_ made things ten times worse." Charles pulled Dakota to him, seeing how upset she became. She felt guilty because she couldn't heal Darwin.

Damn limitations on her powers!

"We will make arrangements for you all to go home," Charles said.

Everyone looked at him surprised.

"What?" Hank asked.

"But the CIA…?" Raven stammered.

"We can't leave now!" Alex shouted, fully angry now. "That bastard tried to kill Darwin!"

"All the more reason for you to go home. This is over." Charles' words hung over the group; they were stern and final. But no one looked happy about this decision, not even Charles.

Sean refused to believe that this was it. He hadn't just gone on a long overdue vacation for two weeks, met a bunch of new friends, and almost died three times just so he could be told, "you're going home!" So, he decided to something he had never done before. Ever since he was boy in elementary school, Sean was one of those annoying kids who did everything the teacher told him to do, without questioning it. But now…

"We're not going home." He didn't know he had said anything until everyone was looking at him. "And he's not going back to prison," he said this while looking at Alex. He was as surprised as everyone else was that he purposely went out of his way to defend Alex. "You said that Darwin getting hurt is all the more reason that we should go home." He was looking at Charles now; it felt weird talking like this to someone he saw as a teacher and a mentor. "I think it is all the more reason that we should stick together and stop Shaw from doing whatever it is that he's doing. For Darwin, at least." Dakota smiled at Sean; it was the first time she had ever felt proud of someone like a teacher felt proud of a student.

"We can avenge him," Erik added. Charles huffed at this.

"Erik a word." Charles walked away from Raven and Dakota. The two walked a few steps away from the group. "Erik, you said yourself, just last night, that they're just kids."

"No, they _were_ kids. Shaw has his army, we need ours." Charles looked over his shoulder at the group. You had a CIA agent, a boy genius, a grouchy kid with a mile long juvenile record, a funny red head, a young girl with beauty issues, and Dakota. This would be interesting.

"We'll have to train. All of us. Yes?" Everyone shook their heads in agreement.

"I hate to be a pessimist," Hank started, "but the base in on lock down. And even it if it does open back up, it's not safe. We…have no place to go."

Charles smiled. It was a smile that replaced all the worry and anxiety and tension that had been over the group. "Yes we do." Dakota smirked in realization.

"Where?" Sean asked.

"Home," Dakota replied. "Alright, everyone step lively." Dakota took off towards the base doors. "Everyone go to your rooms. Only take the bare essentials; clothes, personal belongings." Erik glanced at Charles; he didn't have any clue what they were talking about-oh. Charles' house.

"Where are we going?" Alex asked, getting up from the bench along with the rest of the group.

"Westchester, New York." Dakota spared a passing glace at Charles and Erik, then she went to get her things.

 _This_ would be interesting.

* * *

 **Well, that's done. Thank you to my voters. (All four of you.) This was the final vote:**

 **Hostage Situation-1**

 **A Weakness-1**

 **Shaw's Price-1/2**

" **Join Me"-1 ½**

 **Hopefully, the next time I call for a vote, I can have a little more participation. (Please?) Anyways, so this was the chapter. So, yeah.**

 **Darwin will return! I promise. I was originally going to stick with the movie and have him die. But then I got a review asking me if I was going to continue his character development. Then I started thinking, "Yeah what if I continued his story arch, with Angel!" However, the next couple of chapters are going to be crammed full of story arches and other such stuff. So, I could have tried to balance another character, but I'm not that rambunctious.**

 **Anyways, reviews are always welcomed and any feedback of course.**

 **Is anyone else excited for X-Men: Apocalypse? (I am!)**


	9. How to Solve a Problem

**First of all, I am so sorry again for the prolong wait. It seems like every time I talk to you people, I'm apologizing. But here it is, finally. (Can you believe this was supposed to be a quick easy chapter? But I guess if you compare this to my other chapters…)**

 **Second of all, did anyone else see X-Men: Apocalypse?**

 **Enjoy. ;)**

They had stolen a CIA truck, similar to the one that Charles, Erik, and Moira had taken in Russia. But it was an older truck. A lot older. The back of the truck swayed at an uneasy rate; so much that Sean was worried that it might fall off the front of the truck. It swayed so much that the water from the _fish tank_ lapped over the edges. Sean hugged the tank to his chest, in an attempt to protect his fish.

Dakota was staring at him. "I told you to bring the bare essentials."

"My fish _are_ essential."

"Oh brother, you people are ridiculous! First Alex tries to bring the bloody pinball machine. Then Hank with all his lap equipment. And you," she pointed accusingly at Sean, "with your freaking fish, which by the way, aren't even your fish."

"…What's your point?" Sean asked. Dakota threw her hands into her hair.

Moira, Charles, and Raven were in the front part of the truck; Charles and Moira took turns driving to Westchester. Dakota, Erik, Sean, Alex, Hank, and everyone's bare essentials were in the still ever swaying back.

"So, where are we actually going?" Alex asked for the fiftieth time.

"I told you," Dakota said through gritted teeth, "Westchester, Ne-"

"New York. Yeah, I got that part."

"Then why did you ask?" Sean questioned. Alex glared at him.

"No one is talking to you, fish boy. No, I meant why is Westchester so important?"

"Charles' house is there."

"Professor has a house? What kind? A big one? Does it have a pool?"

"Why must you ask all these stupid questions?"

"Listen, Summers-"

"Hey!" Alex and Sean jumped at Erik's outburst. "Hello. I am a very tired person who would really appreciate it if you would both stop bickering." Sean shrugged, or something close to it because the fish tank got in the way. Alex mumbled sorry and went back to being the brooding teenager.

Hank hadn't said much since their departure from Langley. In all honesty none of them had said too much. The memory of the attack was still fresh on everyone's minds; a wound that was still open. They had left Darwin at the base. There were doctors that were there; they claimed that they would call the number that Charles had given them if there was any change in Darwin's condition. Whether it be bad or good.

The small cut above Dakota's eyebrow and the dark bruise on her cheek were still present. When Sean had asked within the first twenty minutes of the trip, if she would heal herself, she answered no. In some ways it seemed wrong. Why should she be able to heal herself but not her friend? It wasn't right. Erik told her she shouldn't not heal herself if it was only because she felt guilty. Well, she did feel guilty; what could she say? She had so many powers, and sometimes she wondered why. Why her? Why so many? Why did she possess such power and yet she couldn't heal a fellow mutant?

Ahh!

When did life get so complicated?

' _Charles?'_

' _Hm?'_ She could tell by the grogginess of his thoughts that he had been sleeping.

' _How much longer till we get there?'_

' _Oh. Good question. Um…it will probably be another couple of hours or so.'_

Dakota groaned. _'Okay, thanks.'_

' _Dakota?'_

' _Yeah?'_

' _Everything will be alright.'_

' _Thanks Charles. That's not very reassuring, but thanks all the same.'_

Dakota rubbed her temples, feeling the start of a long overdue migraine. She closed her eyes. Gosh, she was tired. She hadn't realized how tired until she had sat down; the truck was swaying her to sleep. The rear wheels hit a bump in the road, causing her to start and wake up. Erik chuckled.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who's tired."

"We're all tired," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. The three kids in the back nodded their heads wearily.

"Well, if you didn't stay up into the wee hours of the night-"

"Then Shaw would have attacked the base while we were asleep. Somehow that seems worse then what happened." Erik considered what Dakota said, and agreed for the most part. But the poor kids…being exhausted and shaken up was not a good combination.

"I'm hungry," Sean whined. Erik chuckled; here we go again.

"Oh, you poor baby," Alex said in mock sympathy. Sean turned his head towards Alex; his hair wiping in his face.

"Listen, Summers, I would totally fight you if I wasn't holding a fish tank." Dakota smothered a giggle, because Sean's comment was just absurd. Alex stood to his feet, Sean gulped. Alex pried the fish tank away from Sean and handed it to Hank, who barely had time to register that he was being handed the tank before Alex let go. Hank managed to catch the thing before it smashed to the floor.

"Okay, you have no fish tank to hide behind. Fight me."

"Well…ah, um…the ah, truck, ah…"

"I knew you had no backbone! I so knew it!"

Sean grew angry. "Hey, now you can take away my fish, but don't say that I don't got a backbone."

"Please, you're the weakest link here, and everyone knows it." Sean jumped up from the bench he had been sitting on. He grabbed Alex by the collar of his black jacket and pulled him close to him. This was Sean's first real move of aggression.

"Do not say that I am the weakest link," Sean said through gritted teeth and had a scary look in his eye. Alex smiled smugly; he was enjoying this.

"Well, hey. _Red's_ got a backbone after all."

"You don't get to call me Red. Only Dakota gets to call me Red."

"Oh. I didn't realize that only certain people could call people by certain nick-names. Should I have looked up the rules in the Nick-Name Rule-book?"

"Jeez," Dakota mumbled. "Two weeks around me, and the whole lot of you become more sarcastic." She cleared her throat. "Now look, Sean, as much as I would love to watch someone kick Alex's ass, I do not believe that would end too well."

Sean turned to Dakota. "Why?"

Dakota bluntly said, "Because he would smash your face in."

"For once she's right," Alex said, turning Sean's attention back to him. "I would kill you."

Sean gritted his teeth.

He didn't really want to fight Alex.

Not really.

He just…ah!

Stupid Summers always saying those mean things to everyone and always having that _irritating_ smug grin on his face. Alex could just say one remark, and Sean would be filled with an emotion close to hatred and want to do nothing but swing a right hook and smack that grin off his face.

But now that he had two seconds to really realize the situation, he had come to terms that he didn't want to fight Alex. Not here on this rickety old truck, anyways. Maybe when they all got Westchester and at the Professor's house, though…

Sean shoved Alex away from him. It was satisfying watching Alex stumble and almost fall. Sean collected his fish tank from Hank and sat back down on the bench. Now he was the brooding teenager. Alex straightened his jacket and sat as far away from everyone as possible.

They all sat there for a minute.

Two minutes.

And then…

"So, Charles has a house in Westchester?" Hank asked awkwardly.

Everyone slowly turned to Hank. "Well, aren't you the person to dramatically change the subject for absolutely no reason," Dakota said.

Hank opened his mouth. "I-I, just, you know, thought that it might ease up on the tension if I-"

"No, don't worry about it. I do it all the time," Dakota chuckled. Erik rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Charles has a house in Westchester. It was his father's. You should see the kitchen. Big giant place! And there's this great study. There's room for a fish tank."

Sean's spirits lifted. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Then Dakota went on a talking spree for about forty some minutes about the grounds of the house, and about the interior design of the house, and about the grand wooden staircase at the entrance of the house.

Hank was most appealed by the labs. Evidently, Charles' father and then step-father felt it was necessary to build in some labs on the ground levels of the house. And the way Dakota talked about them, it was apparent to Hank that they were defiantly not obsolete labs. They were currant, modern day, full functioning labs. Huh, guess he hadn't needed to fight so hard to bring his science equipment.

Sean enjoyed listening to Dakota; it was like listening to a teacher talk about a fantastic upcoming field trip. Charles' house sounded awesome! Funny, the Professor didn't mention it too much at Langley. Actually, he didn't mention it at all. Weird. If Sean had a giant house in New York, he would've told everyone about it. Not to mention, Moira. Won't that impress her? Who wouldn't be impressed by a seventeen year old who owned his own house? Oh. Why was he thinking about Moira again? He didn't want to think about her; he was thinking about his fish. His calming fish…And about punching Alex in the jaw…

Alex wasn't listening. He was still brooding over what had happened over the last twenty some odd hours. He also was thinking up a scheme of how to get back at Sean for nearly pushing him over.

Though Erik was extremely curious about Charles' house and his backstory, he found himself focusing not on Dakota talking, but just on Dakota. The kids, even Alex, eventually all turned to listen to Dakota describe the house she and Charles and Raven spent their childhood years together in. Dakota's talking got everyone's minds off of the base attack. And off of Darwin. One of their own… (Erik had felt and still felt a bit of pride when he had heard the story of what had happened. He had been wrong about the kids. They all had held their own ground, Darwin included.)

Erik often wondered if being able to talk to people was Dakota's real power. It was something that Charles and Dakota had in common, though obviously, Dakota was far more blunt then Charles ever would be. Erik wasn't very good at the social skills. I mean, sure, he could talk to people, but he had trouble expressing his emotions.

 _Emotions._

They were such a foreign thing to him, at least before he had met Charles and Dakota. Even now, he was not that in touch with his own feelings. Anger, frustration, and even grief were the few emotions that managed to make it through to his heart and make up his thirst for revenge. But since he had decided to stay at the base and help with recruiting the mutants, he found more and more emotions racing towards him.

And though he enjoyed having a friend in Charles, and the feeling of responsibility towards the kids, and the maybe romantic thoughts towards Dakota; he often wondered if this all would have been easier if he were on his own. At least he wouldn't have to worry about anyone other than himself. Or his ever increasing emotions.

 _(Sigh.)_

Talk about a…no. No. He was not going to start sounding like _her_.

Was there really a point in thinking about Dakota in any other way, besides a friend? Charles loved Dakota with all of his heart and the very thought of hurting him in any sort of way, made Erik's stomach feel uneasy. (So did the continuous rocking of this damn truck.) Dakota was friendly and a bit flirtatious with most men, so it was a pure illusion to think that she just acted like that around him. And though it was rather apparent that Charles and Dakota didn't always see eye to eye, they had a history together that Erik couldn't even try and match.

And furthermore, Erik Lensherr was not one of those men who just "fell in love" with the first interesting girl that he met.

…

Ah, who the hell was he kidding? He loved Dakota Patience and her sarcasm and it scared him. When he'd come to this realization the night before the attack he hadn't been scared. Mostly because he at first was in shock that he had actually admitted it to himself. Then his mind was a bit preoccupied, with Charles, and Russia, and Shaw, and Frost. And then there was the terrible worry that coursed through his entire body about what could happen to the kids. And Dakota.

But now that he had, had a couple of hours of peace and quiet to think over the situation, he was left with one single unutterable truth: He was scared out of his mind, because he loved Dakota.

Dakota was talking about the grounds around the house now. She waved her hands around; she was one of those people who "talked" with her hands. Erik glanced at her. For the briefest of seconds she turned his way. His heart fluttered when she smiled at him. Damn it. He hated this. The last time he tried his hand at romance, it had ended in disaster. Oh, don't think about the past; it was dead and buried. Maybe, if he could distance himself from Dakota, then maybe these feelings would start to go away.

It was an idea. Not a good idea. But one he would try.

* * *

At some point everyone in the back fell asleep. And at some point they had reached Westchester. And at yet another point they had reached Charles' house.

"Oh my God," Moira murmured, as she drove up the driveway and saw the infamous Xavier Estate for the first time. "You own this?"

Charles smirked slightly, "Family air loom."

Moira shock her head. "This is incredible. Just incredible." She parked off to the side of the road. Charles softly shook Raven, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

"Wha?" she asked, when her eyes opened a crack.

"We're here, sister dear. We're home." Raven blinked a few times, then looked out the window. She turned back to Charles, fully awake now, with an excited expression.

"It's been so long since we've been here." Charles nodded in agreement.

"Shall we?" he motioned to the truck door. Charles, Raven and Moira all stepped out of the truck. They stretched their legs. "I've never got used to driving for such a long period of time."

"You, Dakota, and Erik drove over two thousand miles looking for the mutants," Moira said. She was still staring in awe at the house. (Actually, it was more like a mansion.)

"True. But I didn't really enjoy it. The driving part at least."

"You should have let Dakota run you two to the mutants. Would've taken half the time and half effort," Raven said this while heading to the back of the truck. She threw open the doors and chuckled. Everyone had fallen asleep on their "bare essentials", as Dakota called them. But what caused her to chuckle, was Sean had fallen asleep not on the benches, like the others, but on the floor of the truck. He hugged the fish tank as tight as a child hugs a teddy bear.

"I almost don't want to wake them," Charles replied, suddenly beside Raven.

"Yeah, well I do. Wake up guys!" She banged on the door. "Come on. Wakey, wakey." Dakota opened one eye up a crack.

"I want to hit the snooze button," she mumbled.

"Dakota," Charles said in a tone that said, 'Come on.'

"Oh, fine," she rubbed the crust from her eyes and sat up a little straighter. "I'm up. You happy? I'm up." She glanced to her right, at Erik. "Wake up," she hit him on the arm.

"Wh-what?" he asked startled.

"We're here, so we have to wake up. Evidently." She stood up, and shook Hank awake. His glasses had slid down his nose. Then she went to Alex. "Wake up, kid." He stirred but did nothing else. Dakota rolled her eyes and shook him more forcefully. "Wake up!"

And boy did he! Alex woke with a start and jumped to his feet. Unfortunately, for him Sean was laying on the floor just a few inches beside Alex's feet. He tripped over the red head and fell flat on his face.

Dakota suppressed a giggle, Moira and Raven gasped, Hank smiled, Erik looked at the teen confused, and Charles closed his eyes and thought, _'God, this is going to be a long day.'_ This is when Sean woke up. "Man, what the hell are you doing?" he asked Alex as he stood to his feet looking embarrassed. "You trying to kill my fish?"

"I don't give a damn about your fish. Patience just startled me, that's all."

" _I_ woke up startled," Erik said, pointing to himself. "You woke up scared and ready for a fight." Alex sent the older man a glare, then shoved his hands in his coat pockets and stormed away. Hank was behind him.

"Did you hurt yourself when you fell?" he questioned.

"Hank, just shut up."

"I was only asking-"

"Shut up!" Alex jumped off the truck.

"Wait, what did I miss?" Sean asked, looking at Dakota.

Dakota walked by the poor confused boy. She patted his shoulder, "Sorry Red, you missed it."

"What?"

"Just get up," Erik grumbled.

"Huh?" Sean turned to Erik, with that same confused expression.

"Get up." Erik yanked the red head up by his arm.

"Okay, okay. I get it. Take your hands off me." Sean and Erik reached the back of the truck and both jumped out. The first thing they both saw was the piercing sunlight. Then they saw the house.

The group huddled together and looked up at the three story house.

"Okay, this is not a house. This a fucking _mansion_ ," Alex said after a while.

"Hey! Watch the language," Moira snapped. Alex arched an eyebrow at her.

Sean crossed his arms and stared up at the house. "This is yours?" he asked Charles, with an amazed voice.

"No, it's ours." Sean turned to Charles, mouth open; Charles smiled. The group stood there for a few minutes.

"Honestly Charles, I don't know you survived," Erik started in a tone. "Living in such hardship." Erik turned towards Charles. He didn't know what came over him, but Erik felt heated jealousy towards his younger friend. He knew Charles came from money; how else would he have paid for Oxford? But this mansion…the guy must've been born with a silver spoon in his hand!

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me," Raven walked in-between the two men. Charles hugged his sister with one arm and kissed her cheek. "Come on. Time for the tour."

"That's my favorite part!" Dakota exclaimed. She jumped in front of the group of people and led them into the house like a marching band instructor.

Charles' "house" was a eccentric, enormous place filled with books, antiques, chandeliers, and glorious wooden furniture. "Jeez, what is this place, a museum?" Alex asked, wondering into one of the first floor studies that looked more like a library with a desk.

"Best museum I've been to," Sean mumbled, taking in the giant grand staircase that Dakota had mentioned. "Can we see the kitchen now? I'm still hungry."

Alex rolled his eyes.

"The kitchen is this way. Although, I very much doubt that there is any food in it," Dakota stated, walking in the direction of what Sean assumed was the kitchen.

"Well, maybe I can find a cookie or something."

"Again, I very much doubt that."

"I very much doubt that I am going to make through this day with you two yacking all the time," Alex mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that."

The bedrooms that everyone claimed as their own were on the second floor. "We get to have our own rooms?" Sean asked excitedly. The answer, of course, was yes. Raven found her old room; the wallpaper with decorate blue flowers was as pretty and bright as the first night she spent their.

Charles and Dakota shared the room to the left of Raven's old room; it was Charles' old room. That room looked like a library with a bed in it. When Hank tried to go into the room across from their room, on the opposite side of the hallway, he got yelled at by Dakota.

"No, no, no! That is my old room. I would really appreciate it if no one took this room."

"Why?" Moira asked from down the hall, examining one of the rooms.

"Because it's _my_ old room," she said, as if that was explanation enough. Hank chuckled softly and decided to take the room on the right of Raven's room. Moira migrated back down the hall, closer to the group and took the room next to Dakota's old room.

"I love the view in this one," she told Dakota. "It looks out into the courtyard."

"Most of the rooms have a pretty good view. Including the one you're looking at Sean." Moira turned around and saw the red head expecting the bedroom next to her's. He looked up startled and then smiled that awkward teen smile he was so good at.

"Creeping on MacTaggert?" Alex asked, eyebrows raised.

"Get lost, Summers."

"This house is so big, I just might." Alex walked down the hallway and took the last room on the left. He claimed he wanted to be as far away as possible from the others.

Dakota sighed, "That boy is really just asking for it."

"Well, he probably has a lot on his mind," Moira said, turning back to Dakota.

"I have a lot on my mind every day, that _doesn't_ mean I make everyone's lives unbearable."

"Well…" Moira started, as she itched her ear. (It was one of her nervous habits she had picked up over the years.) "Unbearable isn't the word. Maybe uncomfortable."

Dakota stared at Moira for a few seconds, before smiling. "You and I should talk more."

"That would be nice."

Erik hadn't picked a room yet. He opened all the doors down the hallway and checked out the rooms. None were what he wanted. He wanted something simple. Every single room was huge and extravagant. He simply needed a bed and bath, not a twenty shelved book case.

"Does this place have any servant rooms?"

"Yes. Why?" Charles asked.

"These rooms aren't me. I just need something simple."

"Well, there are smaller bedrooms down the opposite hallway, but-"

"Fine." And with that, Erik went to the opposite hallway.

"He seemed a bit upset. I wondered what's with him," Hank questioned.

"Dunno. Personally, I think he's like that all the time," Sean said, before entering his newfound room.

"He's not like that all the time, he just, just…" Dakota trailed off. Her expression showed worry. "I wonder what _is_ with him."

* * *

It was around one o'clock in the afternoon once everyone had put their belongings from the truck, into their bedrooms. Erik had found a small room that matched his specifications. Sean put his fish tank in one of the sitting rooms on the first floor. Alex was still acting like a complete jerk.

"Why haven't we eaten yet?" Sean wined. "It's been hours!"

"Relax. We'll eat once everyone is all settled in," Raven said for the fourth time, not looking up from the book that she had found in one of the libraries.

"I could die before everyone's settled in!"

Raven sat in one of the plush chairs in the setting room, next to a large window. Sean paced around the tall wooden table, where he had sat his fish tank, and every once and a while, he would complain about not being given any food. Erik was scanning over the book shelves that lined the walls of the room. Alex sat on the cream colored sofa with his legs up on the cherry wood coffee table.

Moira came down from upstairs and went into the room, stating that Charles and Dakota would be down shortly after they figured out how they were going to organize their belonging to fit into a child's bedroom. (Erik scoffed at this; he had no doubt that Charles' old room was as enormous as the other bedrooms he had seen down that hallway.) Hank joined the group a little while after Moira. He had been putting all of his lab equipment into the first floor laboratory. He was excited that this lab was about the same size as the one at the base; so he didn't lose any space.

"Seriously, man, Professor and British are trying to kill me!"

"They have to be coming down soon," Hank reassured Sean, as he cleaned his glasses on his shirt.

"That's what Raven said. That's what Moira said! That's practically what everyone has said!"

"Oh for the love of God! Will you just shut up!" Alex rubbed the sides of his head in frustration.

"Excuse me for-"

"No. I said shut up!"

"Well-"

"Shut up."

"Stop-"

"Shut up."

"Please-"

"Shut up."

Sean clenched his jaw and his fists; his anger rising at alarming rates. "Alex, please-"

"Shut up."

"You know what?" Sean asked quickly, with a tone.

"What?" Alex asked, in an equal tone.

"I'm done trying to be nice to you, man."

Alex stood up from the sofa and got into Sean's face. Raven looked up from her book, Hank glanced at the two of them with worry, Moira and Erik shared a look and stepped closer to the teens.

"You know what your problem is, Cassidy?"

"No."

"You are a goody two shoes, teacher pet, who _is_ the weakest link in this whole group."

Sean sucked in a shaky breath and tried really hard not to punch the guy in the nose. Hank stepped forward. "Look, fellas," he tried to act causal but he didn't know how to approach the two. He tried placing his hands on their shoulders, but both teens pushed his arms away. "I understand, that you both are, um, upset, but this is not the way to go about things."

"You know what your problem is, Summers?" Sean asked Alex, completely ignoring Hank.

"No."

"You are selfish, dishonest; you don't care about anyone, but yourself. And you have a juvenile record that goes from here all the way to Houston!" Alex gave Sean a 'how the hell would you know about my record' look. Sean smiled, "Dakota and I talk."

And that was the final straw.

Alex punched Sean square in the jaw. The red head flew back from Alex and hit the floor with a loud thud. Raven and Moira gasped. Hank just stared, wide eyed with shock. Erik was quick to react; he reached Alex and restrained him.

"Man, get your hands off me!"

"I will when you calm down!"

Sean rubbed his sore jaw. Hank and Moira tried to help him up. "Are you alright?" Moira asked, concern covering her features. (Sean made a mental note that Moira even looked pretty when she was concerned.) He felt a little happy to see Moira looking all worried over him. Maybe she did care about him, the way he cared…wait, he could think about that later. Right now he just wanted to fight Alex and win back his pride.

He stood up and tried to run in the direction where Alex was. "Sean. Sean! Wait!" Moira and Hank both stopped Sean from getting himself killed by Alex, who was still trying to get unrestrained from Erik's iron grip.

Raven ran out of the room and up the stairs. "Charles! Dakota! We have a problem!"

Two seconds later Charles, Dakota, and Raven all entered the sitting room.

"What is happening?" Charles asked. Erik could hear the confusion in his friend's voice. In answer to Charles' question, everyone started talking at once:

"Sean and Alex were going to fight."

"Trying to fight is more like it."

"Let me at him! Let me at him! I can take him, just you watch!"

"If everyone would just shut up for a minute we could talk about this like civilized people."

"Patience, why the hell did you tell this weakling about my juvenile record?"

"I tried to stop them, but no one listens to me."

"I ran to get you as soon as the first punch was thrown."

"Hank let go of me! I will show that jerk a thing or two!"

"Sean calm down!"

Charles desperately tried to gain control over the situation, but at this point no one was listening to him. But everyone listened to Dakota.

"EVERYONE BE QUIET!"

And everyone became silent. And everyone turned to glance at the British woman. She did not look happy.

"Alright," she walked further into the room. "Alright, alright, alright." She stood in between Moira and Hank holding Sean and Erik holding Alex. "Let them go," she said in reference to the two troublesome teens. Hank and Moira stared at like she was crazy and Erik just arched an eyebrow at her. In response she raised her own eyebrows and looked between the restrainers.

After a second the three loosened their hold on Sean and Alex. Sean straightened his tan shirt with the buttons, and ran a hand through his curly locks. Alex roughly adjusted his jacket and gave Erik a dirty look.

"Now, I know that not everyone gets along with everyone. And I know that everyone does not have to get along with everyone. However, the fighting and bickering and sheer annoyance between you two has got to stop." She was looking between the two boys as she spoke. "Maybe this is my fault, because I noticed the problem but didn't say anything because I was focusing on the boredom I was feeling from two weeks of feeding fish and almost fires. Maybe everyone in this room noticed the problem escalating and didn't say something for whatever reason. All I know is this: we are solving this problem _today_."

Alex glared at the ground; Sean looked embarrassed. "Fortunately, I know how to solve a problem like this." Dakota then turned on her heels and started for the door.

"Wait-" Sean started.

"How?" Alex finished.

Dakota stopped in her tracks and turned back to the group; her hair wiping in her face from the quickness of her turn. "We're going to order a pizza." Then she walked away.

…

"Did she say she was going to order a pizza?" Erik asked, after a while.

"Yes," Charles simply replied.

"Why?"

"I honestly have no idea."

An hour later, everyone sat in the kitchen finishing up the pizza. They had ordered three pizzas from the local pizza parlor; one cheese, one pepperoni, and one sausage. They ate in silence for the most part. There was only a few slices of pizza left in the boxes. Sean took two more pieces.

Moira shook her head, "I don't know where you put it. How many slices is this, ten?"

"Eleven. First, I hadn't eaten anything in almost sixteen hours. Second, I'm a growing boy."

"If you were seven you would be a growing boy. Being seventeen means you're a teenager who's trying to gain weight."

"Every time I say something you have to argue against it. Why?"

Moira shrugged, and took another bite out of her slice of pizza. Sean glanced at the brunette and then back at his paper plate. Erik nibbled at his pizza; he was not too much for it. Hank wiped his mouth on his napkin and finally asked the question that everyone had been wondering. "So, how does ordering a pizza solve a problem?"

"Wait and see," Dakota said. Charles glanced at his girlfriend and then back at Alex and Sean.

Alex let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, this was fun. But I have spent enough time being forced to sit by Red."

"Don't you call me, Red."

"Sorry," Alex said, though not sounding sorry at all. "I forgot again, that only Patience can call you 'Red.'"

"Make sure you don't forget again."

"Oh. I will try my hardest." But his mocking smile said otherwise. Sean grumbled to himself. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Alex asked, holding a hand to his ear.

"Nothing."

"No, say it out loud so the whole group can hear."

"I said nothing, so back off!"

Alex chuckled. Sean hated that Alex just knew all the right buttons to push, to get under his skin. The rest of the group sat in the now eerily quiet kitchen. After a minute, Alex stood from his seat and snatched up his jacket that had been draped over the back of the chair.

"Well, I hate to repeat myself but-"

"But, you are tired of being forced to sit next to Sean?" Raven asked. Alex halfheartedly glared at the blond.

"Yeah." He slipped his jacket on, and started to leave, but then…

"Yeah, that's right, leave, so we can talk about you," Sean muttered, taking his final bite of his pizza. Alex stopped and slowly turned back to the table.

"You're going to talk about me?" Sean nodded his head and disregarded the crust of his slice. Alex looking both intrigued and annoyed, strolled back to his chair, but he did not sit down.

"Yeah. We'd talk about what an asshole you are." Alex suddenly wanted to punch the red head again, even though he was already sporting a dark bruise on his jaw. The purple-blue skin did not match with his freckles that were dotted over his cheeks. After a second, Alex snorted.

"I don't know why I'm even wasting my time listening to you."

"And you see, that's your problem," Sean said in a forceful voice. "You never listen to anyone."

"I listen to some people!" Alex shouted, suddenly feeling offended.

"Who?" Sean asked, feeling daring. Alex opened his mouth but no words came out. Sean raised his eyebrows, "Having trouble? Let me help." He folded his arms in front of chest and leaned back in the old looking brown wooden chair, he sat in. Sean cleared his throat and then he surprised everyone when he started talking.

"You listen to Erik, most times; then again so does everyone, because they're scared of him." Erik looked startled. "You listen to the Professor, because he's the Professor. Who doesn't listen to him?"

"Dakota," Charles said, but imminently looked shocked; as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud. "I-I mean, you listen to me, and I listen to you, well, sometimes, but I-"

"Charles. Stop. We'll talk about it later," Dakota said, in her firm voice.

"Um, anyway, I was talking," Sean said. Charles looked grateful, for the attention no longer being on him. "Right, you'd listen to Angel, well, I'm assuming you did." Raven lowered her gaze when she heard Angel's name. "I am one hundred percent sure that you would listen to Darwin, because he was your friend. And after that you don't listen to anyone else."

Alex took a deep breath of air and let it come out slowly. "You don't know me."

"I know enough. I know you enjoy playing the cliché lone wolf character."

Alex huffed and finally sat down. "We're all cliché characters."

Sean shrugged and would no longer look Alex in the eye. "I suppose."

Alex ran his fingers through his blond hair. "Patience, would you heal this guy already?" Dakota looked surprised but nodded. She scooted her chair back and walked up to Sean.

"Think calm thoughts." In all of the craziness of the fight and then the hassle of ordering the pizzas, she had almost completely forgotten about the bruise. Once he was healed, she placed her hands by her temple and repeated, "Think calm thoughts." When she healed the fresh bruise on her jaw line, she inadvertently healed the bruise on her cheek and the cut above her eye that Shaw had given her. It wasn't until much later, when she realized what she had done.

Once Dakota was back in her chair and Sean was done feeling his jaw, which felt great, by the way, Alex cleared his throat. "Yeah. Cliché characters," he repeated. "You're the funny one," he said to Sean. Sean didn't look over, but he did smile. "Angel was the sexy one. Raven is the nice one. Moira is the strong one." Moira smiled at the first compliment she received from the boy. "Hank is the smart one. Charles is the leader. Erik is the bad ass. Darwin…Darwin is the guy you can talk to, you can confide in him. He'll be your friend. He's the type of guy who can hold a whole group together."

Everyone lowered their eyes a bit. They did miss Darwin terribly. He did, in a way hold the group together. When Alex spoke of his friend, he spoke in the present tense. Speaking about Darwin in the past tense seemed to invite the idea that Darwin would not come out of his coma. And Alex could not, would not believe that.

"You forgot me." Alex looked up; it was Dakota who spoke. "You didn't say what cliché character I was."

Alex rolled his eyes, "You're _that_ one." Dakota's eyes turned sharp.

"No! I got it," Sean piped in. "She's the love interest. Am I right, Professor?" The boy gave Charles and Dakota a look, which _almost_ everyone laughed at. After a while the group started to disburse. Hank and Raven cleared away the pizza boxes and the paper plates. Once they were done with that, Raven said she was going to show Hank the rest of the house.

Charles glanced at the two teenagers, who seemed to be civil now. He smiled slightly and turned to Erik. "Come on. I bet I can beat you at a game of chess."

"That's a bet I will take you up on." The two men left for Charles' study.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Alex finally said after a while.

Sean was taken aback by this. "I-What?"

"You heard me."

Sean rubbed his no-longer-sore jaw. "I heard you. I'm sorry, too. But you have to stop ticking me off, okay?"

"Fair enough."

The two sat in silence, but it was no longer eerie or awkward or anything like that. It was a silence filled with possibility and hope. The possibility of new friends and the hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Or something like that.

Moira stared at the boys, amazed. She turned to Dakota and asked, "How did you know that ordering a pizza would solve their problem?"

"It has scientifically proven that pizza makes a person more likely to open up and talk to people."

Moira arched an eyebrow at her, "Really?"

"No. Want to play cards?" Before anyone could answer, Dakota ran to get a deck of playing cards. She was back with them in two seconds flat.

"I thought you didn't want to play poker with us," Alex said, remembering over two weeks ago when Dakota had unsuccessfully tried to get a poker gave started.

"Oh, I'm not playing poker." She shuffled the cards, and dealt them out to the three sitting at the table. "I'm playing Go Fish."

Sean looked happier than any of them had ever seen.


	10. Training and Falling

**Okay, so now we get right into the training part. I'm going to be jumping around a little bit with this chapter. Unlike my other chapters, which are more "complete," this chapter is going to be more like the scene from the movie. The training scene was more like a bunch of small scenes edited together in a larger scene, and I'm going to try and do that in my writing. Figure this whole chapter takes place over the course of twelve days.**

 **As for the "and Falling" part of the chapter title, people seem to be falling down a lot in this chapter.**

 **As always, reviews are loved and appreciated. Thank you. ;)**

* * *

"My stepfather took the possibility of nuclear war quite seriously," Charles told Alex as they walked down to the lowest level of the house. Charles opened the thick iron doors and walked into the bunker, followed by Alex, who was dressed in sweats and carrying a mannequin. "This way." Alex followed closely. The lights turned on in a flash, illuminating the huge bunker. Alex couldn't help but think how similar this was to the bunker at the CIA base. Except this one had more light.

"That's why he had this bunker built down here. I thought we could use this as a practice range of sorts." The two walked to the opposite end of the bunker.

"You don't think I'm going to blow through the walls?" Alex asked, a bit concern about destroying parts of Charles' "house."

Charles chuckled, "He had this place built to withstand a nuclear bomb. I think it can handle you, Alex." The blond teen set down the mannequin, then the two walked back to the entrance of the bunker.

Alex started to feel a bit anxious about this whole thing. "You know, when I do this," Charles turned to look at Alex, "bad things tend to happen."

"That's because you can't control." (Boy wasn't that the truth!) "It controls you. That's why we're here, Alex. It's why we're training." Charles smiled softly at the teen. They reached the end of the bunker. Alex sucked in a breath of air; it was cooler down here then up in the mansion.

"If you're serious about me doing this, you might want to get back." Alex's voice dripped with worry and concern.

Charles nodded, "Alright." He walked out of the bunker. "Shall I shut the door?"

"Yeah," Alex said. Precaution wasn't Alex's strong suit, but it was when it came to his powers.

Charles shut the doors. "Whenever you're ready," he said, his ear was up against the door, listening. Alex prepared himself; he rolled his neck and loosened his shoulders. Charles heard a muffled blast and the alarm on the outside of the door went off. He smiled slightly and opened the doors to see how Alex had done.

Alex didn't do too well.

His rings of red energy had hit the walls and the floor and caught almost everything on fire. Charles frantically grabbed the fire extinguisher and started trying to put everything out. Alex just stood there watching Charles, half expecting the man to yell at him for the damage. Charles, now realizing that he had his work cut out for him, only said, "I will teach you how to control this, Alex."

* * *

Moira and Erik were in charge of helping the kids learn more of the physical part of the training. Or to be put bluntly, how to fight. Raven took the training seriously. She found herself becoming stronger and stronger, to the point where she could actually beat Moira, when they had to fight against each other. It made her feel better about herself. Like she was capable of taking care of herself. She was doing the pull-up bar today; this took concentration and strength. Luckily she had both. Everyone who was in the room watched her, as she pulled herself up so that her chin was parallel to the bar and then lower herself down, slowly, so that her arms were straight. When she lowered herself down, that was when it took the most strength and concentration.

She was in the process of doing this now. Lowering herself, careful not to go too fast, holding on tightly to the bar, blocking out her aching muscles, blocking out the chatter.

Then Alex, being the jerk that he still was, sneaked up behind her and scared her.

"Whoa!" she yelled and fell onto the gymnastics mat underneath the pull-up bar.

Alex couldn't stop laughing. Raven wanted to strangle the boy. Moira yelled at him, "I don't understand what is wrong with you! We are here training and you still act like it's a big joke to you."

Raven sat on the mat, frustrated. "I'm going to kill that guy!"

Erik came over to the mat and Dakota knelt down next to Raven. "You know he actually hasn't been as annoying as he used to be," Dakota said, trying to defend Alex; which was a first.

"Less annoying or not, he still had no right to do that to me!"

Erik stepped forward and held out his hand to her. "You did a good job though." She smiled a little and took his hand. Once she was up, she dusted herself off.

"And by my calculations, you beat you're old score of pull-ups," Dakota smiled, standing up to full height. Any feeling Raven had had before vanished and was replaced by a bit of pride.

"Really?" she asked. Dakota shook her head, the action caused her already messed up hair to become even more messed up. (If that is even possible.)

"Really, dear heart. High five!" The sisters did a happy high five. Dakota turned to Erik and was going to raise her arm so that the two of them could do a high five, but Erik had already walked away to help Hank and Sean. Dakota eyed the German the rest of the day to see if he would meet her gaze.

He did not.

* * *

Sean stood in-between Charles and Moira outside in the courtyard. The three of them had set up a piece of an old window pane from the house. They were about ten feet away. Charles and Moira both wore ear protectors; like the kind you find at a gun range. Sean screeched and shattered the glass easily.

Charles laughed, impressed, "What you're doing is incredible. You're hitting a pitch with sound waves that have the same resonant frequency as the glass. That's why it shatters." Sean raised his eyebrows, confused. He would have liked to have told Charles that he was doing that "Professor" thing again, where he spoke in a scientific language that Sean didn't understand.

Charles must have noticed Sean's confused look, because he stopped talking all science like and just bottom lined it. "But this," Charles pointed to his throat, "it's like any other muscle in the body. You can control it." That perked Sean up a bit. He was a bit afraid that he would accidentally cause someone to lose their hearing, like with his ugly cousin Martin. He smiled a bit. He missed Moira's smile that was directed at him.

* * *

Erik had finished dressing in his sweats and tying his tennis shoes. He left his room, to go for an early morning jog around the grounds before breakfast. When he opened his bedroom door, there sitting across from his room, in an uncomfortable looking wooden chair, was Dakota. Now what surprised him was not that she was sitting there waiting for him, or the glare she was giving him. No, what surprised him was that she was wearing a _red_ t-shirt.

She wore blue, green, and blue-green tops, nothing else. It's what he was used to seeing her in. Yes, she wore the gray sweats like the rest of them but…a _red_ t-shirt?

"Hello," she said coolly.

"Hi?" he said, but it came out sounding like a question.

"Going for a jog?"

"Uh, yeah. I've been trying to the last couple of mornings-"

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

Dakota looked upset. (Her arms were crossed and everything.) Erik was not excepting any of this, especially this early in the morning. Without going into detail that he was trying to distance himself from her, because he was madly in love with her, but did not want to hurt his best friend, he simply lied and said, "I haven't been avoiding you."

"Yes, you have."

Erik rubbed his head. "Look, Dakota, if we haven't been spending much time together, it's just because…the house is so big and I've been training the kids."

Dakota was quiet. She blinked a few times and let out a breath that Erik hadn't realized she had been holding. "You spend, what, maybe six hours, seven at the most, each day training everyone with Moira. You sleep at least seven hours a night. So, figure fourteen hours. That leaves ten hours. Now I know, you and Charles play chess, so, figure another two to three hours, depending on how competitive you two are. So, let's just say three more hours, that leaves seven hours. Seven hours where you eat three times and spend the rest of the day doing basically nothing of too much importance. I think you could find time in your seven hours of doing nothing to at least say 'hi.'"

Erik opened his mouth to argue, but Dakota was too fast. "And as for the house being 'so big,' there are five levels to this house: the bunker, the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, and the attic. Until two seconds ago, you didn't even know there was an attic. You would not spend your time in the bunker, there's nothing to do! The first floor has the kitchen, the dining room, two studies, three libraries, the lab, the gym room, and several sitting rooms. The second floor has mostly bedrooms, and guest rooms, and bathrooms, and a couple other libraries. The third floor is the exact replica of the second floor. I highly doubt that you would explore bedrooms and bathrooms, so that takes care of the second and third floor. So that leaves the first floor. And what do you know I spend most of my time on the first floor, too!"

She glared at Erik, and waited. She wanted an explanation, which Erik didn't understand; couldn't she feel what he was feeling? Didn't she already know that he loved her and he didn't want to hurt Charles? The emotions were so strong in him, weren't they strong enough for her to feel?

This confusion and embarrassment from being called out like that, along with still feeling shocked by Dakota in a red t-shirt, made Erik laugh. He wasn't sure why this whole scene struck him funny, but it did.

"You find this funny?" Dakota asked, outraged.

"No," he said still laughing.

It was Dakota's turn to look surprised. "I don't believe this! What is so damn funny?"

"You're wearing a red shirt. Why are you wearing a red shirt?" Dakota jumped out of her chair.

"Is that all you have been thinking about?"

"No, it just, you-"

"I can't believe you!"

"It's 6:30 in the morning, you're sitting outside of my room, wearing a red shirt, _I can't believe you._ "

"Men! I ask you why you've been avoiding me, and you laugh at my t-shirt!"

Erik laughed again. Dakota marched up to him and punched him in the arm. She started to storm down the hall, muttering, "I just wanted a damn explanation."

"And, that's another thing," he ran up beside her and grabbed her arm. He pulled her to a stop. "Why are you asking me why I haven't talked to you, when you can just sense what I'm feeling and thinking?"

"Well, if you hadn't been avoiding me, then you would know, wouldn't you?" She again tried to storm down the hallway, and again, Erik pulled her to a stop. Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere fast, Dakota huffed and started to explain. "Sometimes, the Connection is a bit much for me to handle, and that was before I was connected to two people. You know all the emotions and stuff is a little…crazy. So, usually every three months I create a few mental barriers to kind of, you know cut off the Connection."

Well this was news. "When did you do this?"

"A couple of days before Shaw attacked the base."

"But you talked to me and Charles-"

"Yeah, I let some of the barriers down so I could talk to you guys, but otherwise," Dakota's voice drifted off.

Now it was starting to make sense.

She wanted an explanation because she had no idea what was going on his head. And then a wonderful thought popped in his head: If she had started to cut the Connection a few days before the attack on the base and was still blocking it, then that meant that she didn't know that he loved her.

Right?

"So, you don't know what I'm feeling right now?"

"No. And it is bloody irritating."

Erik smiled a bit; maybe he wouldn't have to distance himself as much. Maybe if she just thought they were friends, he could pretend they were just friends.

"I'm sorry. I…I will try to give you a good explanation, at some point, but I am sorry."

Dakota stood with her hands on her hips. Her eyes penetrated his. "I guess it's fine, but you wouldn't do it again?"

"No," Erik shook his head. "I promise."

"Well…alright."

"Alright."

"I…I will talk to you later." The British woman left, leaving Erik alone, still thinking about Dakota Patience wearing a red t-shirt.

* * *

Raven walked with a tray of food to the lab; Hank had once again missed a meal, because of his research. When Hank heard her come in, he got all excited. "You got to see this. Your genes are extraordinary, you know that? Your cells age at half the rate of a normal human. When you're forty, you'll still have the leukocytes of a teenager."

Raven didn't really know a lot about genes and DNA, except Charles loved it, Hank was fascinated by it, and without it she would look like a normal person. She set down the tray next to the test tubes and microscopes. "You have the most incredible cellular structure I've ever seen." Raven nodded. She sat on his lap, pulled back her hair and looked at the DNA strand that Hank was looking at. Hank could feel his cheeks turning a shape of crimson.

* * *

Charles and Hank were finishing tying on Sean's…um, I guess you would call it a flying suit? Anyways, it had been Hank's brilliant idea to create a suit that could allow Sean to fly. This concept came up when Sean said he wasn't really sure what he could contribute to the group, other than making Shaw and his crew all deaf.

The flying thing sounded really, really cool, but the red head was a bit scared out of his mind. "And you're sure that this will work?" he asked Hank.

"Anything is possible."

 _Anything is possible?_ He was going to jump out of a window and die, and his only reassurance was: Anything is possible?

"I based the design-"

"Hank stop talking," Charles said. Sean nodded, looking more scared. "Come on." Charles placed his hands on the teen's shoulders and led him to the window. Sean sat on the window sill, Charles and Hank were on either side of him, trying to reassure him. It wasn't going to well.

"When I die jumping out of this window, promise me you'll bury me in this thing." Sean was shaking slightly.

Charles smiled warmly. "It's only two stories up, Sean. You can't die."

"I could still break a bone."

"You got guts, Red." Sean looked to the window to his right. Dakota, Erik, Alex and Raven all were sticking their heads out of that window watching him. _(Sigh.)_ This was going to be difficult anyways, but doing this with an audience? Oh dear! Thank God, Moira was busy making lunch.

"I couldn't be doing what you are doing, dear heart," Dakota said, from where she was next to Raven.

"Why?"

"I'm afraid of heights."

"Really? You, afraid?" Alex questioned, surprised.

"You're afraid of flying," Charles corrected.

"That's why I couldn't do what Sean is doing," she laughed.

Charles groaned. He turned back to the still scared Sean. "Now, remember, scream as hard as you can."

"You need the sound waves to be supersonic. Catch them at the right angle and they should carry you."

Sean glared a bit at Hank. Every time someone started to make him feel a bit better about this, Hank would swoop in and say something dumb like that. Hank was supposed to be the smart one!

"They should carry me," he repeated. He smirked and chuckled, but it was because of nerves. "That's reassuring."

Charles patted him on the back, "Good luck."

Sean looked down; the bushes below seemed awfully far away. "And don't forget to scream," Charles said again. He needn't worry, Sean wouldn't. The teen, feeling nauseous and feeling his breathing increase in speed, did that Catholic prayer thing he always saw in the movies. He held his arms out and apart. Then he jumped.

He yelped. And fell flat on his face in the giant bush below him.

Erik and Alex thought this was the funniest thing in the world, so they laughed. Charles and Hank rushed to the window, both looking concerned. Raven and Dakota could barely see because of Erik and Alex.

Dakota winced when she saw Sean just lying in the bush. "Oh dear. I'm on it." She was a blur and then she was down in the bush with Sean. She tried to walk to him, but do you know how hard it is to walk in an over-sized bush?

She helped him get back on his feet, only for both of them to fall back down. Dakota sighed. She picked a twig out of Sean's hair (there were several twigs and leaves in his messy red locks). "Are you alright?" He nodded and then he coughed up a mouthful of leaves. Dakota sighed again. "Didn't anyone ever tell you, that when you fall in a bush, don't fall with your mouth open?" Sean turned to her and looked at her like she was crazy.

Meanwhile, Erik and Alex were still laughing. Dakota blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Oh will you two shut up!"

Erik and Alex backed away from the window, still chuckling. "Well," Erik said. "That was fun, call me when he tries again, I'd love to see the sequel." Charles just shook his head and looked out the window as Dakota helped Sean down from the bush.

* * *

Once again, Hank and Charles were helping one of the mutants. This time they were helping Alex with something that would help him with his blasts. "Sexy!" Alex proclaimed at the sight of the hideous vest.

"Well, this is just a prototype. The real one will look considerably better. It will be a whole suit. See, these sensors measure your energy output." Hank pointed to the wires that ran on the sides of the vest. "This panel focuses it," he pointed to the plastic circle in the middle of it. "And the excess is absorbed."

At the end of the bunker, there were three mannequins this time all nicely lined up. "Try hitting the one in the middle. Just the one in the middle, mind you," Charles said. He walked to the doors and motioned for Hank to follow. "Good luck."

Alex felt the energy rising in him. He fired it. Instead of coming off like rings like before, it came out like a solid beam. This took more control, more concentration to direct the beam. He accidentally hit and set fire to the left mannequin, instead of the middle one.

Oh, well. He would hit it this next time. He clenched his fists and fired again. Now he hit the right one and the force from the energy knocked him backwards. He hit his head against the cold floor.

"Ow."

* * *

Erik practiced his metal bending skills alone, without Charles or Dakota watching or supervising. Dakota was training herself and Charles made it a point to at least talk and try to help every "student" each day. He wouldn't waste either of their times. He would walk into a room, let the old hurt and anger fill him up and he would make every metal thing in the room fly a few feet, suspended up in the air.

Easy.

Now he was outside by the stone wall that ran around the house next to the driveway. He had a theory he wanted to test. If he could lift metal, then if metal was on him, could he lift himself? Could he fly? At first, this seemed like a really stupid idea. But the more he thought about it…

He stood on the stone wall, it was about three feet tall. He closed his eyes and thought about Shaw. His revenge against Shaw. Killing Shaw. The blood from the man who murdered his mother would stain his hands. He opened his eyes. Nothing seemed to happen. He looked down and…

He was floating! No, he was flying! A few feet above the stone wall. He actually was doing it! His anger for Shaw disappeared, being replaced with smug pride. He regretted it, because without focusing on the anger, he well, um, well…

He fall on the ground with a loud thud. He hadn't been expecting to just drop like that. If he had he would have at least landed on his feet, not sprawled out in the grass. How embarrassing. At least no one saw.

When the sun had set and it was time for bed again, Erik hadn't thought too much of it. When everyone said their usual good nights, again, he didn't think too much of it. But he should have known that something was going to be different that night. Dakota was rushing everyone to bed far too early, for it to be normal. He entered his room. He switched on the lights. There was a large, thin white box sitting on the edge of his small bed.

Intriguing.

He moved to the bed and sat down next to the box; there was a piece of paper folded on top of it. Erik took the card and read it.

 _Dear Erik,_

 _I doubt you'll continue wearing the sweats after all the training is done. Too bad. At least then you wouldn't still have a one colored wardrobe! But I figured if you want to wear black you wear black. It's the 60s, no one cares what you wear, right? So, I figured I would get you something in your favorite color. Now you'll have to decide between this and the turtle neck sweater._

 _Love Dakota_

Erik smirked a bit. He folded the card back up and set it on his side table. He opened the box, which he now saw that there was a label that said "Macy's." Of course. There was white tissue paper in the box. He pulled that out. Then he got to the contexts of the package: it was a black _and gray_ plaid buttoned down shirt.

He smiled; he could feel a strange warmth grow in his chest. He hadn't received a present that was so clearly from the heart in such a long time. He swore he would wear it the next day.

* * *

"Hello Hank," Dakota said, walking into the lab. Hank was working on the suits that would protect them whenever they were to fight against. (More like secret suits that he wouldn't let anyone see.)

"Hi, Dakota. What's up?"

"Well, since you ask, I was thinking; you are making these nice little inventions to help out Sean and Alex and I think it's great. And you are spending so much time working on these suits. But I need you to make me a pair of boots."

"I'm sorry, what?" Hank asked, wondering if he heard her correctly.

"I wear boots," she glanced down at her feet. Hank followed her gaze to her ever presence laced up boots. "And I was thinking, that you could make me a very special pair. One that I won't, I don't know, wear through the sole in a couple of weeks."

Hank understood now. "You want a pair of running boots. Okay. I'll have to do some research on material that will be able to withstand high kinetic activity, but I should be able to-"

Dakota pulled Hank into a hug. "Thank you! So happy about this. I wouldn't need new boots for possibly, up to a year!" She practically skipped out of the lab and turned to wave goodbye when she left. Hank scratched his head.

Dakota went up to her and Charles' room, she needed to freshen up a bit. Training was exhausting. Her usual messy hair became messier and curlier when it was layered with sweat. She went to the bathroom, and ran a brush through her hair. It took several minutes to untangle everything, but once she was done she looked more like herself.

She stepped out of the bathroom and noticed a small black box on the side table next to the bed. (It was too big for a ring box.) She raised an eyebrow and went to see what it was. She picked it up and held it in her hands. "Huh." She opened it. Inside was a necklace. It sort of resembled a medallion; a small, circle, smooth gold charm, hung on a dainty chain.

Her eyes widened. Who would give her this? Was it real gold? Did Charles give it to her? If so, why? But these questions were soon answered when she took the necklace out of the box and saw the small folded up note in the bottom of the box. She unfolded the note and read it.

 _Dear Dakota,_

 _Thank you for the shirt. You really didn't have to, but then again, you would have anyway. You probably saw that I wore it yesterday, you didn't say a word about it. I could just about picture your smirk that you had when you realized I actually was wearing it, though. And just for the record, black isn't my favorite color. Purple is._

 _I decided that I would repay the thoughtful present by giving you, your own gift. I notice you don't wear much jewelry, except the pearl bracelet, of course. If you do not like the necklace, then I would like to have it back. You see, it was my mother's. One of the few things I managed to save that belonged to her. I want you to have it, if you like it. I should stop writing now, I'm not as good as this as you are._

 _Erik_

Dakota felt a little breathless. Like _she_ didn't know what to say.

This belonged to his mother?

And he gave to _her_?

Wow.

She had known that he cared for her and that he might have a crush on her, but this…this was so intimate. So thoughtful. So… _loving._

* * *

Dakota sat on the stone wall, legs crossed, holding a stop watch and a spiral. Charles and Hank ran around the corner of the house on the driveway. Charles was in the lead. Dakota hit the stop watch. She called out, "2 minutes, 37 seconds Charles. And For you Hank, 2 minutes, 45 seconds."

Charles took deep breathes, but looked happy, because he had beat his old score. But he knew that Hank wasn't putting a hundred and ten percent into this, like he was. The best way to talk to Hank, he had found out, was to get him talking about something he had learned.

"In each of us, two natures are at war," he quoted from a book, he knew Hank knew.

"Robert Louis Stevenson, Jekyll and Hyde," Hank answered, recognizing the quote.

"Top marks," Charles said, impressed. The two walked along the gravel driveway. "The story wasn't really about good and evil though, was it? It was about man's animal nature and his struggle to control it, to conform. And it's that struggle which is holding you back."

"No, Jekyll was afraid of what he could be capable of," Hank clarified.

"And you are, too."

Hank stopped in his tracks and he knew Charles was right.

Dakota sat impatiently on the wall, wanting to see what was happening, and if they needed her to time them again. "How did a pretty little thing like you," she turned and saw Erik walking up to greet her. She smiled. "End up sitting on a wall like this?"

"Ha, ha."

Erik smirked and looked at her spiral. "What's this?"

"Running times. Charles' idea." Erik leaned in closer to look over the numbers. Dakota felt a sudden urge to lean in and smell his hair. But she didn't. She felt shocked about it though. Dakota cleared her throat, "Thank you for the necklace. I never got around to say that."

"You like it?"

"Well, of course. I-I love it. Look, see," she lifted the necklace up so Erik could see that she was, indeed wearing it and loving it.

Erik lifted his hand to the necklace and rubbed his thumb over the smooth gold charm. "It looks great on you," he said, his voice a bit raspy. He glanced away from Dakota, but she kept looking at him. "What's Charles and Hank doing?" He motioned to them.

"Uh, I think Charles is trying to get Hank to uh, embrace his mutation." She paused and then scoffed, "Let's everyone else embrace their mutation, but won't let Raven."

Erik was surprised at the level of hostility in her tone. "What does that mean?"

She shook her head and set her jaw. "Nothing."

Hank took off his shoes and socks and stretched out his hand feet. "Now, if you want to beat me this time, you have to set the beast free," Charles told him. "On your marks, get set, go." Both took off, but not too long after, Hank started to take the lead. And by take the lead I mean it got to the point where Charles couldn't even see Hank anymore.

Hank's hand feet were able to move faster and ago, make him run faster. In spite of himself, Charles started running faster; not that he could catch up with him. In fact Hank ran so fast that he had ran all the way around the house and came up behind Charles. He tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" Then Charles laughed. He slowed to a walk and shook Hank's hand. "Congratulations, my friend. Robert Louis Stevenson would have been proud." Charles took a breath, his side hurt now.

"45 seconds, Hank!" a voice yelled at them. Both men turned. Dakota and Erik stood in the middle of the driveway, a couple of yards away. Dakota was writing quickly in the spiral. "You defiantly broke your old record! Keep that up, and you will be running as fast as me." She breathed in deeply, she had grown excited seeing Hank run so fast. "That was pretty good," she told Erik.

Hank chuckled.

Alex came around from the garden, and glanced down at Hank's feet. "Impressive, Hank. With feet like those, all you need is a red nose. Right, Bozo?" Alex patted Hank on the back.

Hank look frustrated. "I'm done here."

"Thank you, Alex," Charles said, not at all happy.

Hank walked away, and past Dakota and Erik. Both smiled slightly at Hank. He walked past a window of the house. He glanced in and saw Raven sitting at the weight station in their gym room. She smiled and waved. Hank smiled and waved back, feeling a little silly.

Not as silly as he did when he tripped over his own two feet.

* * *

After Hank had walked away from the window, Raven laid back down and continued her daily weight lifting route. She lifted weights for thirty minutes, she took a break and then she back pressed. She really did enjoy the training. She grew stronger and more sure of herself as each day passed. Her arms felt tired as she slowly lifted the bar, which held ten pounds on each side.

When it came to her training, anything could happen. Alex could come behind her and scare her, Sean would ramble on about his fish, Dakota would come in and complain about anything, Charles would tell her that she might be pushing herself too hard. But the last thing in the world she expected to happen, this time when she was training was for the entire bar and weights to be literally ripped out of her hands. She gasped.

The bar with its twenty pounds added to it, floated a few feet above from where she laid. She wiped her head towards the door. And of course there was Erik. Who else could have been responsible for this?

Questions to why, came to Raven's tongue but she did not have a chance to ask.

"If you're using half your concentration to look normal, then you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing." He was fully in the room now.

Raven looked slightly confused and Erik answered this confusion by coolly stating, "Just pointing out something that could save your life." He glanced at the bar and he no longer was holding it in the air. Raven barely had time to react. All focus went to stopping the bar. Which she did, catching it, even though her muscles did not appreciate it.

For that split second when all her focus was on the bar falling towards her, she forgot to think about her blond human disguise, and her natural blue form came out.

Holding the bar up with her arms, she turned to Erik and glared at him. He didn't seem to care about the glare. "You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept yourself." He gave her a passing glance and then left her there to contemplate.

And she contemplated two things: one, why did Erik come in and do that, and two, he had never seen her natural form before, and yet he instantaneously accepted her. This left Raven thinking about the incident all day and the next few days.

Erik had been talking to Dakota for a while after Hank and Charles were finished racing and what he had learned about Raven made him eager to do something about it. Here they were telling the kids that they should embrace their differences, something Erik thought was good, and come to find out that Charles had been telling Raven her whole life to hide. It frustrated him, and maybe it was not his place to meddle, but in the moment Raven was not Charles and Dakota's sister, she was not a twenty-something year old girl, she was a _mutant_ who needed to be taught that she did not have to hide anymore.

* * *

Dakota sat in the courtyard, in a lawn chair with binoculars. She was sitting the direction of the giant satellite that was several hundred feet to the south of the house. Sean had been talked into trying to use Hank's prototype flying suit again. Sean and Charles had made the climb up the satellite followed by Hank, who wanted to help, and Erik, who didn't want to miss this.

There was no way Dakota was going all the way up there just so she would have to climb down. And of course there was the whole, afraid of heights and flying and falling to her death.

So, she said she would be with them in spirit and that she would watch from the courtyard. But right now, they were still climbing the stairs and ladders so, Dakota sat impatiently.

"Getting some sun?" Moira asked walking over, in her gray sweats.

"No. I'm waiting to see Red fly."

"Charles is having him try that again?"

"Yep."

"Even though Sean could have killed himself the first time?"

"Yep."

"….Are you going to just keep on saying 'yep?'"

"Nope." Dakota smirked, Moira smiled.

"I wonder how he is."

"Who, Sean?"

"Yeah. I mean he was worried before and after that window incident but jumping from that satellite…"

"If I didn't know better, Moira, I'd think that you liked him."

Moira's jaw dropped. Dakota simply raised her eyebrows.

No one had said anything on the subject of _Sean and Moira_ to Moira. Practically everyone teased Sean about his school boy crush, but with Moira it was simply never brought up. No rational person would play cupid in a relationship that seemed one-sided. Dakota Patience was not a rational person.

"I-he-we don't, I don't-"

"Wow, you sound just like him, trying to cover up your astounding emotions."

Moira took a deep breath, "Sean Cassidy is a nice young man, but he is seventeen! And I'm twenty-eight! We are eleven years apart, we come from completely different worlds, and I…I do not feel that way about him."

"Age does not matter. Eleven years is not that much, believe me. If your definition of 'completely different worlds' is that he's a mutant and you're a human-"

"No. No, I mean I'm a mature CIA agent and he's not even out of high school."

"You know I should ask him what he needs to complete high school, Charles and I could maybe help with that." Dakota smiled, but Moira looked like she seriously wanted to continue talking about the matter.

"Look, Dakota, I know you are friends with him and I know that he is a nice _kid_ but I just-"

"Hold up for a second," Dakota said waving her hand and looking through the binoculars. "The men finally made up to the top." Moira knelt down next to Dakota's chair. Both women watched:

"And you truly believe I'll fly this time?" Sean asked, his hands shaking.

"Unreservedly," Charles answered, sounding a heck of lot more confident then Sean did.

Sean stood at the top of the satellite with Erik to his right and Hank and Charles to his left. It was windy up there, and Sean wondered if the wind would blow him off the little platform, saving him from the trouble of having to jump.

"I trust you," Sean said pointing to Charles.

"I'm touched."

"I don't trust him," Sean pointed to Hank.

Hank opened his mouth, but Charles beat him to it, "Say nothing." Hank buttoned his lip. Sean rubbed his forehead and rocked back and forth on his feet.

In his mind, logically, if he jumped, he would die. But if he didn't jump he would look like a chicken, not to mention he would be letting everyone down. Or at least that's how he felt.

But all Sean kept thinking was jump, splat, funeral of a seventeen year old.

"I'm gonna die!" he finally exclaimed.

Charles sighed; maybe this was not a good idea after all. "Look, we are not going to make you do anything that feel uncomfortable with, alright?" Charles said softly. Sean nodded quickly, suddenly feeling dizzy from being up so high.

"Here," Erik interrupted, "let me help." He shoved Sean off of the platform in a quick, easy motion. Sean yelled in surprise.

Charles yelled at Erik, watching with wide worried eyes as Sean fell through the air.

In the courtyard were Dakota and Moira sat sharing the binoculars, Moira shouted, alarmed when she saw Sean falling. "Oh my God, oh my God, he's going to die!" Moira ripped the binoculars out of Dakota's grip so she could fully see what was happening. Dakota stood from her chair.

"Don't worry."

"Don't worry?!" Moira shouted back, which Dakota flinched at. (Is that what it was like, when she yelled back at someone who was only trying to help?)

Sean was getting awfully close to the trees and the ground. Oh this was it. There were so many things he hadn't done in his life yet. Oh! That tree was getting closer! Oh, ah! Sean screeched and he felt an odd tingling feeling in his throat. And the screech was not a normal, break-glass-screech. It felt different. It made different sound waves, they were…supersonic!

Hank had been correct with his theory, the flap wing things carried Sean. Back up he went. The wind was in his face and blowing his hair back. He felt as if he could reach the clouds. "Wow!" He started giddily laughing as he flew back down past the three guys who watched from the satellite.

Moira relaxed and lowered the binoculars. Dakota chuckled, "That's pretty impressive."

"Yes, it is. I guess he really can fly."

"No, what's impressive is for someone who just got done claiming that they don't feel anything for the red head, you sure got scared pretty fast. It reminds me of how I get when I'm worried about Charles." Moira didn't know how to argue this. "Food for thought."

Back on top of the satellite Charles couldn't but look slightly annoyed at Erik. "What?" Erik asked looking amused. "You know we were thinking the same."

Charles smiled at this but he neither denied nor confirmed Erik's claim.

* * *

Hank had just finished putting a black duct tape X on a mannequin. It was Charles' idea. "Wonderful work Hank. Now, Alex," Alex stood at the end of the bunker, waiting for Charles and Hank to leave, so that he could, once again, try and work on his aim of his powers. But Charles had other plans. "I'd like you to hit the X and try not to hit me. There's a good chap."

Alex's breath got caught in his throat. "You're serious?" Hank looked as surprised as Alex did. When Charles had asked Hank to down to the bunker and help, he had no idea that he was going to risk his life for the sake of Alex mastering his mutation!

"I'm very serious," Charles said, way too calmly. "I have complete and utter faith in you." Hank sure as hell didn't! But he trusted Charles, so he stayed where he was, standing a few feet away from the mannequin. Alex, now feeling more nervous than before, readied himself like he had done before.

But this time it actually counted. If he didn't hit the mannequin, he could possibly kill Charles or Hank. Don't worry about that, concentrate on the target. He focused his powers and shot a red beam of energy and hit the mannequin in between Hank and Charles.

The mannequin caught fire, in an instant. Charles and Hank jumped back from the mannequin. Alex laughed. He finally did it! He was filled with adrenaline and suddenly wanted to practice more than he had in the past week. Charles nodded approvingly, Alex nodded back; his way of thanking Charles. Maybe he could _finally_ control these cursed powers of his, it sure seemed like he would be able to.

"Am I still a bozo?" Hank asked Alex.

Alex smirked. "Yes, Hank, you're still a bozo. But nice job." That would be one of the highest compliments Alex would ever give Hank.

Shortly afterwards, Hank and Charles left Alex in the bunker to continue practicing. "A little warning next time, Professor. I about had a heart attack."

Charles chuckled, "Sorry about that." The two walked up to the first floor, chatting. "But, I should tell you, and don't tell Alex, you and I were never in any danger."

"How do you mean?"

Dakota came up behind them and placed her hands on the two men's shoulders. Hank turned in surprise; he didn't know that she was in the bunker with them. "I was hiding by the doors. If anything bad would have happened I would have swooped in and saved you guys."

Hank let out a deep breath. "You know you two could have told me."

"Aw, what's the fun in that?" Dakota quipped.

* * *

Erik wanted to test himself some more, and he wanted Charles to help him this time. Though, usually Charles had to convince the others to try and test themselves, this time around Erik had to convince Charles to help him test himself. They stood on the gravel road, near the stone wall. Charles held a hand gun up to Erik's forehead. He cocked the gun. "You're sure?" he asked for the thousandth time.

Erik nodded, "I'm sure."

"Alright." Charles cleared his throat and took a breath. Erik focused on his anger and waited for Charles to pull the trigger. Charles hesitated and took another deep breath. His hand was shaking ever so slightly. "No," he finally said. He dropped his hand. "No. I'm sorry. I can't shoot anyone point blank, let alone my friend."

"Oh, come on," Erik said impatiently, grabbing Charles' wrist and lifting the gun back to his forehead. "You know I can deflect it. And you're always telling me I should push myself."

Charles looked concern and did not, _did not_ want to shot the gun at Erik. It didn't matter if he could deflect it. Wait that was it. "If you know you can deflect it," he said pulling his hand out of Erik's grip. "Then you're not challenging yourself." Charles shook his head trying to think. "Whatever happened to the man who was trying to raise a submarine?"

Erik groaned, "What, I can't." Charles handed him the gun. Erik roughly took it from the British man. "Something that big? I-I need the situation, the anger…"

"No, the anger is not enough," Charles said. He felt like an idiot; of course this is what they should have been practicing all this time.

"It's gotten the job done this whole time."

"It's nearly gotten you _killed_ this whole time." Erik raised his eyebrows at this. Charles glanced at the satellite to his right. "Come here." He ran over to the stone wall. "Let's try something a little more challenging." Erik put the safety back on the gun, Charles forgot to, and he followed.

"You see that?" Charles motioned his head to the satellite, "Try turning it to face us." Erik stepped up to the wall and set the gun down on it. He wasn't sure if he could do what Charles wanted him to do, but he figured he better at least try. He took a deep breath. He held out both of hands and thought about Shaw, and his mother, and Magda, and this frustrating situation he was in with Charles and Dakota.

He could sense the metal on the satellite, he could even feel it vibrating because he was attempting to move it, but it was too hard. He was using too much energy. He was using too much mental strength. He let go and practically fell against the wall, catching his breath back. God, he didn't know that his powers could take so much out of him. (Maybe Charles was right?)

"You know, I believe that true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity." Erik turned to glance at him. "Do you mind if I…?" Charles twirled his hand by his head, to indicate that he wanted to read his mind. Erik shook his head. He honestly didn't care if Charles was in his head, as long as it was only for a little while.

Charles did his trade mark, putting two fingers to his temple, and dived deep into Erik's mind. He was gentle, he didn't want to intrude too much. He went for happy memories. He saw glimpses of that last couple of weeks: chess games, the kids, Dakota.

' _Dakota?'_ but Charles didn't spend much time on that. Those were all good memories, but he was looking for something deeper, something older. He found a small, almost forgotten memory in the corner of Erik's mind. There was warmth to it though. Charles went in to investigate it, he played the memory through Erik's head.

Erik didn't know what happened. One second he was just standing there, the next he had a flashback to when he and his mother were lighting candles one Hanukkah, before the war. It was so sudden, and left him with so many complicated emotions.

Charles, still in Erik's head, watched and felt the memory, too. His heart broke for Erik; it didn't seem fair that he had been put through such pain. Erik's eyes felt wet and after a few blinks, the tears spilled over.

' _Oh, my friend,'_ Charles said softly, wiping the few tears that had formed in his eyes as well.

Erik glared at the grassy ground. "What did you just do to me?" he demanded.

Charles took the few steps to the stone wall and leaned next to it. "I accessed the brightest corner of your memory system. A very beautiful memory, thank you, Erik."

Erik shook his head. "I didn't know I still had that."

Charles smiled softly. "There's so much more to you then you know. Not just pain and anger. There's good too, I felt it." Erik didn't know what to say. "When you can access all of that, you'll possess a power no one can match. Not even _me_."

Erik blinked, again feeling his eyes tear up. There was a reason why Charles had earned a special place in Erik's heart. Charles was like family. His family, his brother. Irene had been right.

"So, come on." Charles patted Erik on the shoulder. "Try again." Both men faced the satellite. Erik lifted his arm up. He understood now.

Rage and Serenity.

With every thought that infuriated him he needed a thought that would equal it out in happiness.

Shaw murdering his mother; his mother and his father tucking him in to bed. Magda's face full of fear; Dakota's carefree attitude. The horror of Auschwitz; the kindness in Charles' eyes.

The satellite creaked and groaned as it started to turn in the direction of the two men. (Erik focused strictly on the memories and it barely registered that he was actually moving it.) He turned his hand and the satellite followed the motion. Through he felt exhausted, Erik smiled from ear to ear.

Charles laughed and patted him on the back. Erik still smiling laughed as well. "Well done, my friend! Well done."

Erik breathed deeply and rubbed forehead. "Thank you," his voice was raspy. Charles nodded, happily.

"Hey, you guys!" Both men turned to see Dakota's head sticking out of a window. "You guys going to come in and eat super, or what?" Both chuckled, and glanced at each other and went to go inside. Erik felt that he would be forever indebted to Charles for what he did to help him. All these years, his powers were barely reaching the level of full potential. And now…

Now maybe he really could fly!

* * *

Dakota couldn't fall asleep. She couldn't fall asleep for the life of her. Her body was tired and longed for sleep, but her mind was wired and moving in several different directions; jumping from one topic to the next.

Was she going to have the dream again tonight?

Raven and the kids were all improving so much.

She saw Alex and Sean talking this morning, they seemed civil. Were they, _dare she say it_ , becoming friends?

Moira and she were talking more, that was nice.

Charles was being a royal pain. He kept on pestering her that she needed to train like the others, and there was always room for improvement with her mutation. Jeez, who needed that?

 _She did._

Well, there was tomorrow. Hank said that her boots would be ready by then. Maybe she would just test them out.

Hank was so great. She didn't tell him that enough, no one told him that enough. Well, maybe Charles did, and Raven.

 _Raven._

She was acting oddly. She was becoming distant. She spent time with Hank and the others, but she seemed to be spending little to no time with her or Charles. Well, she had no reason to be that upset, Dakota hadn't been making time for them to spend an afternoon together talking. Not with everything else that was going on. But…why would Raven avoid her brother? Heh, Raven avoiding Charles, reminded her of Erik avoiding her.

 _Erik._

The jerk never did give her an expansion. But she supposed it did not matter too much. She forgiven him by the time she had given him the shirt. And defiantly by the time he gave her the necklace.

She involuntarily reached her hand to the night stand, where the necklace sat next to the pearl bracelet.

Charles never asked about the necklace. He was acting a bit odd, too.

So was Erik.

Hell, maybe she was too.

God! Everyone in this house was acting odd!

* * *

 **If this seems like an** _ **odd**_ **way to end the chapter, it was deliberate. Trust me. Well, that chapter is done, and I have no idea when the next chapter is going to be uploaded. Instead of having you guys wait a month or three, I going to give you a little sneak peak of what the next chapter (A History Lesson) will be about:**

 **So, it literally picks up two seconds from where it ends. Dakota still can't sleep, and she really starts wondering about her relationship with Charles and Erik. Around that time, Charles wakes up. He is not as completely blind as I would lead you all to believe.**

 **He has some suspicions. Well, anyway, the two end up talking for a bit and then they accidentally lead themselves into a long overdue fight. (Worse than the fight in Code Names.)**

 **Drama ensues.**

 **The next morning, Dakota reads up about the Cuban Missile Crisis in her history books. Erik questions her on this. They end up going for a walk around the grounds. You'll all learn a bit more about Miss Patience and her powers. Erik and Dakota will have a nice moment.**

 **And drama will ensue.**

 **I also want to show that Sean and Alex have sort of put aside their differences and are attempting to be friends. (As you can see I did not write anything on this in this chapter, except for the last part with Dakota.)**

 **So, there you go.**

 **Special thanks to all my reviewers, thought that this would be a good to mention them. You guys keep me writing! So do all my followers and favoriters. And all the other people who read this. Thank you all, laters!**


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